Hero
by Neotonix
Summary: Genius Extraordinare Naruto is flung through dimensions as he lands into the canon Naruto world.
1. Prologue

Well, this is my final new story. Well, at least until I finish one of my fanfictions.

Chapter 1: Prologue

_Name: Kazama Naruto_

_Age: 16_

_Birthday: October Ten_

_Rank: Head ANBU of Assassinations and Sabotage (HAAS)_

_Bio: Never attended academy. Graduated to Genin at age five. Promoted to Chunin at age six. Earned title of Tokubetsu Jounin at age eight. Promoted to ANBU and HAAS at the age of Ten. _

_S.I.: Jailor of the Nine-tails fox, Kyuubi-no-Yoko._

_Status: Deceased_

Sarutobi sighed as he put the paper down. Leaning against his mahogany carved chair, he looked at the paper again before walking over to his window. How could things have turned out like this? Uzumaki Naruto... The boy who was the village's hero and mighty savior that saved them from the Kyuubi. Even more than that, he was the most prodigious genius that Konoha-no, the entire world had ever seen for more than a millennium. And now he was gone for good. Reaching for the bell, he rang it twice.

"Yumi, please come in."

A young girl shakily walked into the Hokage's office while anxiously looking around. "Hokage-sama. Did you call me?"

Sarutobi nodded before sighing deeply. "I know that...this is hard for you. But I must hear it for myself."

Yumi cringed as she knew what was coming.

"You were there when Naruto...fell, am I correct?" The words came hard, as if it were untrue.

The girl nodded softly as she sat down on a chair.

"I was in Naruto-sama's group at the time when he used that jutsu..."

(Flashback)

"_EVERYONE! GET OUT OF HERE NOW!"_

_Yumi hysterically yelled back at the voice while running up to him. "Naruto-sama! Let us help you beat them!"_

_A blond ninja, no older than sixteen, turned towards her before smiling softly. "No, I'm the only one that has the power to do something. But... thanks for being my friend." Looking up to the skies, he softly sighed as the air flew through his hair. "I think that out of all the people in ANBU, you were my favorite."_

_  
Despite the situation, the girl smiled lightly as tears leaked through. "What do you mean 'were'? You're coming back with us."_

_Naruto shook his head solemnly before laughing. _

"_My life has been so good to me. I don't even know where to begin. The village loves me, I inherited all of my father's jutsus, and Tsunade baa-chan even adopted me. And now, I have the greatest job with precious friends that stand by me." _

_Yumi grabbed Naruto as she shook him. "That's the thing! You have friends! Itachi-sempai and Anko-san can help you defeat them! We need you back at home right now!"_

_Naruto walked up to her, giving her a soft embrace. He then suddenly blurred through hand seals while he jumped back. "These men are Akatsuki. No one in the village can take them down. Even I can't take three members at once." Finishing the seals, a barrier suddenly cut him off from Yumi. _

_Naruto turned to her, and for one brief moment she thought that she saw a tear. But in an instant, he disappeared to the horizon, ready to meet the Akatsuki head on. The last thing she saw was Naruto using the Shinigami to eradicate the souls of the cloaked members at the price of giving up his own life._

(End Flashback)

"And then... I..." The girl seemed to choke on her now falling tears as the Hokage solemnly listened.

"I see. Thank you Yumi. You may go now."

Yumi nodded before leaving the office. The Hokage rang his bell four times before another woman came in.

"Ah... Mizumo. Please begin making the funeral procession for our Uzumaki Naruto."

The secretary nodded and left his office. Pulling his Kage hat down, the third then looked outside as he tried to figure out how he would break the news to the village. Heavens knew that the village couldn't take another Kazama's death. Rubbing his temples, he groaned in fatigue. Being Hokage was tough.

OooOo

Naruto walked around inside the belly of the Shinigami as he looked around the rocky landscape. "Hello?"

A hollow echo flew through the canvas as his own voice answered him.

"Guess no one's here." Walking along, he trudged along the desert path, eager to at least get out of the blazing sun."

However, after a few minutes of fruitless searching, a sudden blaze appeared before Naruto, making him shield his eyes from the light. A second later, Naruto found himself face to face with the Shinigami.

Naruto sweat dropped as he stared at the death god. "Um... Nice to meet you?"

OooOo

A twelve year old Naruto and a demon-like Sasuke flew towards each other with a rasengan and chidori respectively. As the two titans clashed together, Naruto's clawed hand scratched Sasuke's headband, while Sasuke used his pointed fingernails to stab straight through Naruto's heart. At once the energy faded as Naruto limply fell down to the ground with Sasuke staring in shock. The Uchiha gasped as he saw Naruto's lifeless face. Looking down at his hand, he screamed in terror as it still held the blond's heart.

"No... I didn't mean to!" In a panic, Sasuke threw off the dying organ as he ran away. "I DIDN'T MEAN TO DO IT!" As if the rain had heard, it drowned out his voice as his feet ran towards Orochimaru's lair.

OooOo

The Shinigami stared at Naruto as it smiled. Or, at least Naruto thought it smiled. With that freaky mask, he really couldn't tell. Deciding to initiate the conversation, Naruto coughed lightly.

"Um... Nice weather you have here. I guess you don't get visitors often though."

Silence.

"Yeaaah... It must get pretty lonely."

The shinigami suddenly raised a knife as it walked towards Naruto. Seeing the potentially hostile action, Naruto backed away as he eyed the knife warily. He couldn't die twice, right?

The said blond boy was therefore surprised when the Shinigami pulled up a red string. In a hollow voice, it then spoke. "When people call upon me, I do their bidding in return for their soul. However, it seemed as though you had two souls. Naturally, I consumed the stronger one. Your furry counterpart.

Naruto slowly nodded, not knowing where this was going.

"Well, because you are not supposed to be here... I have no choice but to return your soul to the living world."

Naruto's eyes widened with excitement.

"But there is a problem. The body you have in your original life can't hold your soul anymore."

Naruto sank his head in disappointment as he sat down. He wouldn't be able to see the Hokage or even Yumi for that matter. Yumi... He closed his eyes in sadness as he remembered her.

"Therefore I will send you to a different dimension."

At once Naruto's head flew up as he looked at the shinigami curiously.

"What do you mean by 'dimension'?"

"Foolish mortals. So limited to their own knowledge. There exists a multitude of dimensions, each with different people in different times. However, the soul is always the same. I sense the death of one of your other identities in a particular dimension. He'll do nicely for you."

Naruto already started to fade from the desert, with his eyes seeing hospital white instead of bleak desert yellow. "WAIT! Will I be able to see Yumi again?"

The Shinigami cut the string it was holding as it nodded. "Remember, although their identities may be different, their souls are initially the same. Yes, she will be there."

Smiling, Naruto faded into darkness, ready to start his new life.

TBC...

Well, how was that? Review please!


	2. Unsettling Differences

Here I go!

Chapter 2: Unsettling Differences

Naruto opened his eyes lightly as the white hospital ceiling came in view. He suddenly sat up, popping a few of the stitches on his chest.

"Owww..." The blond painfully clutched his chest as he remembered his current position. From the looks of his physique, he was a ninja. Albeit a poorly shaped ninja, he was in fighting shape nonetheless. Turning around, he saw a masked jounin sleeping soundly in his chair with an orange book clinging to his face.

"Kakashi-san!"

The copy nin's book fell down as the experience jounin looked at Naruto through his lazy eye. "Oh, Naruto. You're up. I thought that you'd be in stasis for at least another week."

Naruto stared at the ninja as he questionably cocked his head. "Ano... sorry, but I seem to have forgotten. Why would I be in the hospital for a week? Wouldn't the Kyubi just heal me?"

Kakashi looked at Naruto strangely before getting up to get a cup of water. "You don't remember anything?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, I don't remember anything." Well, technically he wasn't lying. The blond really didn't know anything about this life. "Could you fill in the details for me sempai?"

Kakashi looked at Naruto strangely for the new suffix, but ignored it as attack trauma. "Sasuke left for the Sound and left you for dead. I found you just moments after he ran away. At the time, you were barely able to open your eyes."

Naruto's eyes widened as he heard the news. "Wait! What about Itachi-san? Why didn't he just stop his brother?"

Kakashi sweat dropped as he felt Naruto's forehead for a fever. "Um Naruto. Itachi's part of the Akatsuki that tried to kidnap you, remember?"

Naruto bit down the shock as he moved onto more important matters. "How strong was Sasuke? If I lost to him... Wait, he couldn't be stronger than you at this point right?"

The copy nin nodded before answering. "From the chakra I sensed from your fight, both of you were about low jounin level. Of course, you were in the demon fox form. So Sasuke must have reached that level through the cursed seal."

Naruto's head started to reel as he looked at his hands. "So I'm that weak in this world..."

Kakashi looked at Naruto curiously before the blond suddenly jumped out of bed. "Kakashi, my memory still seems a little foggy. Do you know where I could find Yumi?"

If the copy nin wasn't confused before, he sure as hell was now. Lightly grabbing Naruto's shoulder, he pulled the blond back into the bed. "I think you're still a little delusional from the attack. There's no one called Yumi in Konoha."

Naruto froze as he stared at Kakashi. He would have to investigate that later. "I see... But why am I in this branch of the hospital? I'm sure the east wing has much better equipment."

Kakashi cringed as he looked out the window. "Sorry Naruto. This was the best I could do for you since the staff didn't want you in the hospital in the first place."

The blond boy looked at Kakashi with confusion. "And why wouldn't they want me in the hospital?"

Kakashi looked away in discomfort as he silently whispered. "Because of the nine-tailed fox. Your special tenant."

The room turned silent as Naruto thought about his current condition. So far he gathered that the people he had become familiar with weren't in this village. Second, the village seemed to dislike him for holding the nine-tails. Cursing the shinigami for putting him in such a situation, the blond took in deep breaths as he looked straight at Kakashi.

"So how many people in this village care about me?"

Kakashi "hmm'd" as he sat back down. "While you were sick, Sakura, Hinata, Kiba, Neji, Lee, Shikamaru, Chouji, a couple of the jounin including myself, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, and Konohamaru came to see you. Basically, the important people." Kakashi said this with a smile, knowing how much Naruto cared about his friends.

Naruto's reaction remained stoic however, as he nodded. They were generally the same people as his past life. Save Itachi, Yumi, Hayate, and Anko. Suddenly looking up, Naruto grabbed his bed handles as he raised his voice. "Wait! What about the Sandaime?!"

OooOo

Itachi looked at his partner with annoyance as he continued to sharpen his kunai. The fish head was snoring with a small bubble expanding out of his nose. In a sudden movement, Itachi threw the kunai he had been sharpening at the growing bubble, making the transparent ball pop.

"Uwahh? Are we being attacked?" Kisame woke up with a start as he looked around the cave drowsily.

"No. There's no one here."

"Good." Leaning on his side, Kisame immediately fell asleep again with an even bigger snot bubble taking the previous one's place. Itachi's eyebrow twitched in mild annoyance as he sharpened his next kunai.

"Shark-faced imbecile."

"I heard that, you bloody red eyed fool."

Itachi swore as he turned around and ignored his partner altogether.

OooOo

Naruto gaped in shock as he tried to keep his thoughts intact. The old man was dead? How did things turn out so horribly. This time line wasn't different. It was totally distorted! The blond started to peel away his bandages as he noted the scratches and scars on his forearm and chest.

_I wonder why the bloody fox isn't healing me... _Closing his eyes, he meditated as he felt his mind release from the conscious world. He soon found himself inside an intricate assembly of pipes and tunnels where water seemed to flood the floor. Walking down the path with the experience of a veteran, he stepped into the giant room which held the monster fox. Naruto grinned as he walked towards the cage, rubbing his hands together with happiness. At least one thing in the dimensions wouldn't change. Stepping up into viewing range, Naruto stared boldly at the fox's bloodshot eyes.

**What are you doing here brat?**

"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to know why I was healing so slowly."

**Hm? You don't need my chakra to heal the rest of your injuries. I managed to save your pathetic life by reproducing your heart. That should suffice. Don't be greedy boy...**

Naruto flashed a smile as he stared at the Kyubi with an intense gaze. "Don't joke with me fox. I need your chakra if I want to heal enough to train. This body is way too weak, and I have some people that I need to find. So either you'll give me the chakra I need, or I'll force it from you."

The Kyubi paused as it scrutinized the boy. **You... You're not the brat I know. You're someone entirely different. **After a while, the fox sighed as it saw the determined face of the blond. **I see. It may seem that my name may uphold its fearsome reputation yet. I'm counting on you to show the world my strength again. **

Red coils of chakra started wrap around Naruto as they seeped into his body. **Interesting. Very interesting. Your chakra feels different. For your stupid bravery, I will give you a special gift today. It will manifest itself in the coming weeks. **

The last things that Naruto heard in his mind was the deep, echoing laughter of the Kyubi.

OooOo

Naruto suddenly opened his eyes as he cracked his head from side to side. Stretching his legs out, he took in a deep breath of air before opening the window. However, at that moment, Jiraiya stepped down onto the roof from atop a giant frog.

"Oh? Jiraiya-sensei?"

"Hm? Sensei? Since when have you started addressing me as your teacher? What happened to ero-sennin?"

Naruto thought for a second before breaking into a toothy grin. "Ero-sennin! HA! I like that! Ero-sennin! Ero-sennin!" The boy said the name a couple more times as if he were testing out the sound. "Awesome. That's going to be your new name!"

Jiraiya looked at the boy detectably as he sighed. "I guess that's what Kakashi meant by your memory being slightly off. Well, either way, we need to train. With Akatsuki hot on your trails, we can't afford to let you get caught in your current weak state. That's why I'm going to personally train you so that-"

"I'm not going with you."

Jiraiya sighed as he expected this answer. "Listen. I know that you want to bring Sasuke back, but believe me when I say that in your current condition, you're no match for even him. But beyond that, I'm telling you now to forget about him. It does no good for you to dwell on the past. The damned can not be saved by your hands." Thinking of his former teammate, Jiraiya frowned. "No. No one can save them."

Naruto looked at the Toad Sannin solemnly before nodding. "Yeah, I know."

_This boy's become more mature. He's finally accepting my words. _Jiraiya smiled as was about to give Naruto a hand up to his toad.

"But I'm still not going."

Jiraiya fell from his toad as he screamed at Naruto. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT WHOLE 'Yeah, I know' FOR THEN? WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE NOT GOING TO TRAIN?! THE AKATSUKI ARE AFTER YOU AND YOU'RE PRETTY MUCH DEFENSELESS!"

Naruto winced at the man's volume, but nonetheless smiled. "I never said that I would stop training. I just don't need your help right now."

"Kid, you've been training yourself for your whole life. You need someone experienced to help you grow now."

Naruto sighed as he looked up at the sky. Images of his past teachers flowed into his mind as he remembered his sword training from Hataye-san, ninjutsu from Itachi-sempai, genjutsu from Kurenai-san, taijutsu from Gai-san, and shinobi tactics from Shikaku-san. Dozens of other faces from ANBU also came into view as he remembered every single training session they had done together.

"No. I've been taught by the greatest of people. And now I'll utilize this borrowed strength and become greater than all the Hokage and Akatsuki. Just watch me Ero-sennin."

Jiraiya held his breath until he finally gave up. Turning his back on Naruto, he hopped back to the top of the toad's head as he stayed silent. Finally, after what seemed to be hours, the toad hermit spoke in a solemn voice. "I understand Naruto. I can see the determination in your eyes. The same determination that I often found in the Fourth's. Basically, I'm believing in you to get stronger. Go and do what you can. I'll do my best to keep the Akatsuki away from you until then. The next time I see you, you had better be stronger than me." With a grin the Toad Sannin then chuckled. "If not, I'll beat the snot out of you." With a sudden jump, the toad master disappeared, leaving Naruto with new conviction and determination.

_Don't worry Jiraiya. By the time I'm done with this body, I'll be stronger than you and everyone else in Konoha. It's the promise of a lifetime. _

Hopping down from the hospital window, Naruto quickly took off towards the nearest and biggest training field, determined to become stronger quickly. Stopping in the center of a large clearing, he quickly made the handseals for kage bunshin.

_FOX! I need some chakra to make clones._

**What? You've never needed my chakra for that. How many do you need?!**

_Ten thousand._

Naruto could almost feel the Kyuubi's eyes widen before a deep laughter was heard.

**Good. I like your spirit. In fact, let's make a bet. **

_Hm? I'm listening._

**I'll give you enough chakra to make that many clones plus more. But if you make fifty thousand clones and train with them for the next two years everyday, I'll give you a jutsu from my own personal library.**

Naruto's eyes widened as he thought of what the jutsu could be. Nodding his head, he accepted the deal.

**Oh, but if you lose, I get to take back all my chakra and you can't ask for it anymore.**

Swearing Naruto gathered the chakra as he prepared to use his most favorite technique. _Don't worry. I'll be taking that jutsu to add to my collection._

**KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!**

Thousands upon thousands of Narutos suddenly materialized as the entire clearing became filled with yellow hair. Raising his voice, the original Naruto suddenly yelled out to the group.

"OKAY! DIVIDE YOURSELVES INTO GROUPS OF A THOUSAND!"

After a great deal of confusion and commotion, the lines were set. "NEXT, I WANT EIGHT GROUPS TO WORK ON CHAKRA CONTROL BY WALKING UP THE WATERFALL, TWELVE GROUPS TO WORK WITH WIND MANIPULATION, SIX GROUPS TO PRACTICE RASENGAN AND ELEMENTAL RASENGAN TRAINING, ONE GROUP TO WORK ON NEW TECHNIQUES TO USE FOR MELEE FIGHTING, FOUR GROUPS TO WORK ON KATON, FOUR GROUPS TO WORK ON SUITON, ANOTHER FOUR TO WORK ON DOTON, FOUR GROUPS TO WORK ON RAITON, AND THE REST TO WORK ON NINPOU JUTSU. YOU'RE ALL DISMISSED!"

Fifty thousand "HAI"'s were heard before the collective groups went to their respective roads. "As for me, I'll work on regaining my taijutsu skills. Let's start with gravity seals..."

OooOo

Itachi and Kisame had been walking for more than an hour now, the latter stopping occasionally for a drink of water. It was at the sixteenth stop that Itachi finally stopped his partner and shook his head. "We've already wasted too much time. We can't afford to go find some more water."

Kisame growled as he slapped Itachi's hand away. "Don't you see my gills turning green?!" As if for emphasis, the marks on Kisames face turned a sickly green.

"Those have nothing to do with your breathing. They have no functional purpose besides the fact that they keep people away from us."

The blue faced man was about to fire a retort but stayed silent when he found that he had no reply. Growling angrily, he "hmph'd" as he put his hands down. "Fine!"

Itachi walked slowly forward as Kisame followed behind grudgingly.

"Stupid red-eyed emo freak."

"I heard that, you stupid blue-headed pineapple."

TBC...

A/N: For those of you who think that Naruto's pushing it a little far on the training factor, just think of it like this. He was originally stronger than the Kage's and some Akatsuki members in his past life. I'm going to try and make him return to his original strength soon. As for couple votes, I have three candidates. ONLY THREE candidates and you must choose one.

A)Temari

B) Kin

C) Yumi

If it's A or B, I'll probably make Yumi into a sister figure. Or I might just not bring her into the story at all.

Power levels

Naruto: 2.8

Demon form: 3.4

Demon form2: 3.8

Kakashi: 6.8

Sasuke: 3.5

Curse seal form: 3.8

Itachi: 9

Kisame: 8.7

Review please!


	3. Two Years Later

Here I go again.

Chapter 3: Two Years Later

"HAAAH!" Three clones rushed Naruto as they each charged a rasengan in both hands. The six spiral balls of doom were easily dodged however as the original jumped above them. In the air, six more clones jumped towards him, one of them swiping with his sword. Thinking quickly, the sun kissed blond made a Katon jutsu to vanquish them, and used a following Suiton jutsu to crush the ones beneath him. Drawing his katana, he then made seals with one hand as he summoned energy to his sword. Swinging it, a sudden crescent of pure chakra descended upon the other clones in hiding near the trees, dismissing them all with ease. Sheathing his sword, he then landed on his hands, doing a perfect handstand, and pushed chakra into the ground. A tight, compact wall of mud sudden grew up around him. As he heard the clones run towards him, he then pushed his chakra into a rotational motion and spun with his legs still in the air. The kicking motion caused the mud wall to shatter, flinging large blocks of hardened soil at the clones. Flipping over, he then quickly made seals as a large fire dragon erupted from his mouth. The flying mud pieces ignited, making them easily plow through the clones. Naruto smirked as he suddenly saw the rest of his two thousand clones run towards him at once in an attempt to overwhelm him. Biting his finger, he slid blood across his forearm, summoning another sword. Grinning eerily, he stood up straight as he held both swords up with his arms in a crucifix position. Pointing both swords at the ground, he started to gather chakra as he attempted one of his strongest techniques. Raisning his head sharply, he then whispered.

"_Graveyard dance_"

In an instant, he suddenly disappeared in a whirlwind of leaves. A second later, a trail of smoke echoed through the mass of clones as each one died in an instant. To a spectator, they would have seen Naruto appearing and disappearing randomly, each time using his swords in a spinning motion that would take out eight to twelve clones at once. Satisfied with the damage, Naruto then dismissed/sheathed his swords and jumped above the horde of bunshins while extending his forearm towards the sky.

A bright blue ball formed in his hand as Naruto concentrated. _Okay, step one complete. _Sweating bullets, Naruto then sent wind properties to it, making it turn into a ball with a vicious layer of wind surrounding it. _Alright. Now the hard part. _Yelling with effort, he then compacted it to the size of a golf ball and introduced a layer of fire to it. Holding the two elements together with immense concentration, he then succeeded in making a small chakra barrier between the two elements.

The clones sighed as they simply sat down, waiting to be destroyed. They'd have to find another place to train now, since their creator was going to destroy them and the entire field in a matter of seconds.

"_Kazamarasengan_!"

Grinning, Naruto tossed the ball down as he quickly used the wind to carry him out of harms way. Landing on a faraway tree, he saw the ball hit the clones, then create a huge spiraling explosion that destroyed all of them and the nearby clearing.

The process itself was quite simple. By first making a regular rasengan, he created the base to hold the elements together. After introducing wind to the chakra, the ball gained the rapid cutting property that the regular technique lacked. Finally, the fire was for extra damage, with the wind making it grow into a conflagration of slicing and burning chakra. However, he had to make sure that the two elements didn't touch until they hit the target, else he get caught up in the explosion also. In the end, the result was a huge torch of fire that spiraled into a large dome with great cutting winds.

Naruto sighed in content as he jumped down from his branch. _'Oi, Kyubi. That's another technique you owe me for beating two thousand clones in three minutes._'

The Kyubi grimaced as he sighed. "**Okay, I'll teach you it later."**

Content, Naruto walked off to his favorite ramen stand, hoping to meet some of his friends there.

OooOo

"Here, this is it."

Kisame stared at the Uchiha with disbelief flooding his eyes. "This...is it?"

"Yes." Came the stoic reply.

Kisame blinked twice before staring intently at the store. "You're serious."

"Yes."

"You're really serious aren't you."

Itachi looked back at his partner as annoyance filled his features. "I already said 'yes' twice."

Kisame started to chuckle lightly as he shook his head. It soon turned to shouting however as he pointed his finger at Itachi. "So you're telling me, that we came all the way from Kiri... TO GET SOME STUPID BOX OF POCKY?!"

Itachi smirked as he pointed to a poster on the store window. "No, you're wrong."

Kisame stared at his partner strangely. "What'd you say?"

"You're wrong." Itachi continued to smirk as if he knew the answer to the greatest riddle of all time. "This...isn't JUST a pocky box. This is the all new deluxe super mint addition of the chocolate powered flavor that has divine properties of special sweetening and flavoring."

Kisame walked over to the poster as he squinted his eyes. "It just says 'chocolate flavor pocky.' What do you see that I don't?"

Kisame turned to see a smirking Itachi with his sharingan spinning in his eyes.

"THEY WOULDN'T PUT A SECRET MESSAGE IN THE POSTER THAT COULD ONLY BE SEEN BY SHARINGAN!"

Itachi frowned as his sharingan deactivated. "Either way, give me your money."

"Hell no. Where'd you lose yours?" Kisame deadpanned.

Itachi took out a box of pocky from his cloak as he peeled off the cover. "I used it in a special deal back in Kumo."

Kisame quirked his eye as he looked at Itachi curiously. "A deal?"

"Yes. I gave him my life savings for a pocky membership. Every month, I get a box of pocky via mail."

Kisame slapped himself as he shook his head. Uchiha Itachi. One of the most dangerous and shrewd shinobi of all time. Ranked S in the bingo book with the notorious Mangenkou sharingan. But when it came to pocky, the man would just...change. Kisame had discovered the crazed murderer's strange addiction when he had accidentally eaten Itachi's last box of pocky on their first mission together. It was also their first failed mission since Itachi couldn't stop using his Sharingan to torture Kisame. Eventually the two reached a truth, with the latter promising to buy him some more once they got back to the base. Kisame shook his head in reminiscence as he smiled. Those were the good days. But still...

"I'm not lending you any money."

Itachi suddenly rushed up to Kisame as he held a kunai in his hand. "And why not?"

Kisame gulped as he looked around. _Dammit. No witnesses. _The sharkman swore as he pulled out his wallet.

"Okay, but this is the last time."

Itachi took it mercilessly as he stepped into the store. "Like taking candy from a baby."

OooOo

"Ah! Sakura!"

Sakura turned from her bowl of ramen as she looked up to see a waving Naruto. "Oh! Naruto. Are you here for some ramen?"

"Of course!" Naruto sat down on the stool as he ordered sixteen bowls of Miso ramen.

Sakura watched in quiet awe as he then gulped down each bowl within a matter of seconds, leaving no room for conversation. After he finally finished his sixteenth bowl, he gave patted his stomach as he turned to Sakura. "So, how what were the results of the Chunin exam?"

Sakura smiled as she nodded. "I got my vest the other day. But why didn't you take it? I'm sure that you'd do well! After all, you did get to the finals in the last tournament you participated in."

Naruto frowned ever so slightly as he remembered that she was talking about someone else. "Oh, yeah... I guess. I think I just need to train some more. Either way, I need my concentration."

Sakura's eyes then lit up as she nudged Naruto softly. "Hey. So are you going to tell me how you've been training? Why do you have to keep it such a secret?"

Naruto smiled brightly as he shook his head. "I'll show everyone when the time comes. By then, I'll be sure to get the Hokage seat from Tsunade. Bet on it."

Sakura laughed as she punched Naruto's arm. "Come on! I'll take you up on a spar! Why don't we train together today?"

Naruto shook his head again as he placed the money on his table. "Sorry. Maybe some other time. I've got some stuff to look into, so I'll see you later okay?" With that, Naruto walked off while waving.

Sakura waved her hand good bye sadlly as she looked at her half filled bowl of ramen. Half the time she didn't even eat the ramen, since she really came for the blond boy's company. Ever since he had returned from his battle with Sasuke, he had changed. He was training constantly, only stopping for food and sleep. Half the time he would look at the clouds and sigh as if he were missing something. But beyond that, she had changed too. She would often find herself thinking of Naruto occasionally, with her seeing him less as a friend and more as someone... Two years ago she would have thought herself crazy for feeling the things she felt for him, but his presence was just gave you that feeling. Laying her money on the counter, she politely thanked the man as she decided to go and see exactly what her blond friend was doing.

OooOo

Meanwhile, Naruto was in his own mind in front of a gigantic cage. The said boy was grinning from ear to ear, looking at the Kyubi with eager eyes.

"So Kyubi. What'll it be this time? Some awesome new fire jutsu? Or perhaps an ancient weapon technique?"

The Kyubi sighed as he threw a scroll at Naruto. **"Here. The contract for foxes."**

Naruto looked at the scroll before wrinkling his nose. "Hm... Do you have anything better?"

The giant fox suddenly stood up as it growled at Naruto. **"How dare you belittle the fox summon?! Do you really think that just anyone is given the fox contract? Don't you know what an incredible honor it is to be able to summon my kin?!"**

Naruto shrugged as he looked at the scroll. "Yeah, but still. I can already summon toads. I'm sure that Gamabunta wouldn't want be to have another summon. He probably wouldn't forgive me."

Kyubi growled as he swayed his tails back and forth. **"You do know that you can have two contracts at once, right?"**

Naruto nodded.

"**Then use mine!"**

Naruto looked warily at the scroll before shaking his head. "Sorry. It's just that my father used the same summon. I...kind've want to walk in his footsteps, you know?"

The Kyubi sighed as it gave up. **"Okay, fine. I'll teach you a different jutsu then."**

Naruto bowed to show his thanks before running up to the cage. "Wait! But before that, let's spar! I want to see how strong I've gotten!"

The Kyubi quirked his eye with interest as he looked at the blond. Knowing all about his past life in the other dimension, the great demon asked curiously. **"Are you as strong as you were before?"**

Naruto flexed his arms as he gathered some chakra. "Hm... I can't really tell. When I died over there, I was slightly stronger than Itachi-sempai. I think I was stronger chakra-wise over there, but I've learned a lot of techniques from you here. In the end, I think I'm pretty much the same."

Kyubi nodded thoughtfully. **"Didn't I teach you any techniques back then?"**

Naruto grinned as he scratched his head. "You hated my guts."

The Kyubi smiled while laughing deeply. **"Okay, good enough answer. So you want a spar? How many tails should I start on?"**

Naruto quickly stretched before changing the scene to a large mountain area. "Hold up, let me take off the gravity seal." A few seconds later, Naruto jumped up and down as he spun his arms around. "Ah, that feels much better. Okay, let's start at two tails and go up. Six is the limit."

The Kyubi suddenly transformed, revealing a sort of humanoid fox. **"Then I get to use jutsu."**

Naruto nodded in confirmation as he pulled out a kunai. "GO!"

OooOo

Sakura walked around the area as she tried to look for Naruto. Ducking in and out of trees, she quickly ran around while trying to spot the patch of blond. Finally, in the distance, she saw him leaning against a tree with his katana leaning against him. Smiling, she noted the way his mouth twitched every few seconds with his eyes restlessly fluttering. Sitting down next to him, she leaned her head against his now large frame as she closed her eyes.

"Hey, Naruto. It's been a while hasn't it? I remember when you used to ask me to go train with you every day and I always turned you down. Strange how things turned out, right? Now I'm asking you and you're the one that's turning me down! Things sure have changed..." Laughing quietly, she looked up at him as she inched closer and closer towards his lips. "Haven't they Naruto?"

OooOo

Naruto swore as he dodged another blast of fire from the fox lord. Using his chakra, he quickly tried a rasengan, but instead fell as the Kyubi used his own water jutsu to hit the boy squarely in the stomach. The demon then vanished in a swirl of fire as it nailed the boy in the back. Naruto plummeted into the rocks as the Kyubi roared with laughter.

"**That's pathetic! I'm only on five tails and you're having this much trouble? Screw this." **The Kyubi closed his eyes in concentration as he felt another gate of energy flow into him. **"It's time for me to get serious! If you don't take me seriously, I'll maim you for life!"**

As if on cue, Naruto suddenly blasted out of the rubble with a multitude of clones flying towards him. The Kyubi simply smirked as he batted them all away with his claws. His eyes soon widened however as he saw the boy bring out a giant ball of wind and fire.

"KAZAMARASENGAN!"

The Kyubi quickly tried to dodge by jumping backwards, but instead found his back running into the boy's sword.

The Kyubi quickly punched the clone behind him, dissolving it in a matter of seconds, but not before losing his precious time. Putting his hands in front of him, the fox pushed an incredible amount of chakra into his arms as he braced himself for the impact.

The explosion left the mountain area in rubbles with the Kyubi in the center panting heavily. His ears then picked up the blond's voice as he heard one of his own jutsu echo through the clearing.

"_Graveyard dance_."

The Kyubi swore as he reminded himself never to teach the boy a high level jutsu ever again. Sighing, the fox started to draw on the power of his sixth tail as all of his wounds healed.

OooOo

Kisame and Itachi walked slowly across the dirt path as both of them remained silent. It had been a long day, and both were extremely tired. Even the loud Kisame had lost his usual vigor.

"Hey, Itachi."

The Uchiha prodigy remained silent. After years of working with him though, Kisame knew this to be a "yeah".

"What do you think the sky is?"

Itachi looked at Kisame carefully before looking up at the stars. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, why do you think we have the sky? What is a 'sky'?"

Itachi closed his eyes in silent trepidation as he answered. "A foolish question for a simple man."

"You don't know the answer either, do you?"

Itachi stayed silent as he walked slightly faster.

"Heh, thought so." Kisame grinned as he stretched out his arms. "So we're going to go check up on that Kyubi brat, right? It's been two years already."

"Indeed. But your words are unnecessary for our travels."

Kisame took this as "shut the hell up or else I'll kill you", so the shark man took his advice and stayed silent.

OooOo

Naruto panted heavily as he sat near the giant cage.

"So, it looks like I'm up five to six tails in terms of power. That seems good enough for now."

The Kyubi smiled in slight pride as he nodded. **"Yes. You did well for a human. And as for your new jutsu that I have yet to teach you..."**

A scroll appeared in front of Naruto.

"**This scroll will teach you the Shadow Walk. With it, you'll be able to merge with shadows for a limited time and transport between them." **With a grin, he gave a toothy smile. **"An A class demon technique."**

Naruto jumped in the air as he yelled in glee! "AWESOME! THANKS KYUBI!" The blond boy was about to start reading when the Kyubi suddenly stopped him.

"**Wait. You'll be turning fifteen soon, right?"**

"Yeah. So what?"

"**Well then, I have another present for you. You'll get it on your birthday, so rest assured. But for now..."**

The Kyubi's eyes grew red as Naruto suddenly fell to the ground in pain.

"AGHH! WHAT THE HECK? Kyubi!?"

The Kyubi laughed as it stared at Naruto. **"Don't worry, you'll thank me for it later. Think of it as a gift for becoming my student. Now go get some rest."**

OooOo

Sakura head was moving closer to Naruto's when the blond suddenly screamed out in pain.

"Naruto?!"

The blond grasped his head as he tried to support himself. "Sa-Sakura?"

The pink haired kunoichi nodded as she helped him stand. "What's wrong? What should I do?!" The pink haired girl was starting to get hysterical, looking around the clearing in wild convulsions.

In spite of his pain, the boy was able to smile as he took her support. "No, I'm fine. Ano... Could you take me home please?"

Sakura nodded as she held him and helped him walk home. It'd be an interesting walk to his house in the village.

_'Boy, this'll start rumors...' _Sakura muttered as she supported him on her back.

OooOo

A hooded girl quickly ran through the alleyways, dodging in and out of the different paths while clutching her cloak. Thankfully, her nimble form allowed her to move with ease, dodging every obstacle with practiced precision. Looking back at her pursuers, her eyes widened as she tried to run faster. She came face to face with a giant wall though as her escape stopped short. The men that had been running after her stopped as they grinned.

"How dare you run away again you wretch."

The second man stepped forward as he held a wooden stick. "How many beatings do you want today? I think it was twelve last time."

The third man was about to speak when a larger man behind them suddenly cleared his throat. Turning, the three men looked at the newcomer as they all bowed.

"Boss." The first quickly raised his head as he pointed to the shivering girl. "The stupid thing ran away again! We were able to catch her though, since she still has that injury from the last time she tried to escape."

The boss barely acknowledged them as he walked up to the wide eyed girl. Towering over her, he looked at her with narrowed eyes as he crossed his arms.

"Now...why are you running away again Yumi?"

The girl looked at him with pure contempt before turning her head away. "I'm through with belonging to you and the Yakuza. Just kill me."

Snarling, the boss gang leader grabbed the girl's black hair as he pulled her up.

"No you listen to me girl! Ever since you were barely able to walk, I've taken care of you while loving you as my own. And this this how you repay me?"

The girl remained silent as she simply turned away. Angry, the Yakuza boss slapped her across the face as she fell to the ground. Stomping on her, he continued to kick her furiously as she bled. He ignored her screams as he continued to stomp on her, eventually making her lose consciousness.

Breathing heavily, he then ruffed out his gold robe as he breathed deeply.

"Get rid of her. She's worthless now." Turning towards his carriage, he walked off and entered the decorated car.

The three men bowed as they quickly rushed over to the beaten girl and put her in a giant sac. Taking the body bag, they ran towards the nearest bank as fast as possible under the covert guise of the night.

While tying her feet together, one of them looked at her before sighing.

"What a waste. You know, I'd really pay good money for her."

The other man hushed him as they cuffed her hands together with iron shackles.

"Yeah, but if the boss ever finds out, you'd be dead."

"Right."

After taking one last look at her face, the three then tossed her into the raging river and walked away.

TBC...

A/N: Oh my! What a scary predicament Yumi has been through! What is this gift that Kyubi has given to Naruto? Beyond that, what will happen with the pairing? Just a note, it won't be a NarutoxSakura. Well, so far, here are the votes.

Yumi: 7

Temari: 4

Kin: 3

And here are the power levels. Remember, it's been two years, so they've all gotten stronger. And power levels only feature characters that were in that chapter.

Sakura: 4.35

Itachi: 9.4

Kisame: 9.2

Kyubi: 18

Kyubi two tails: 5

Kyubi five tails: 9.7

Kyubi six tails: 12.2

Naruto: 9.3

Naruto w/o Gravity seals: 9.5

Naruto w/ Graveyard Dance: 11

Naruto w/ KAZAMARASENGAN: 12

Done! Review please! Pairings end this chapter. So this is your last time to vote!!!


	4. An Eary Problem

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

A/N: Alright. Some of you, okay, one of you made a really good point in your review. Why isn't Sasuke stronger than Orochimaru right now? The answer is that it's still only been two years. In the canon series, Naruto and company go see Sasuke after 2.5 years. That still leaves half a year of training for our favorite brooding Uchiha. But some of you might go, "WAIT! What could possibly happen in 6 months?!" Well, our lovable Uzumaki Naruto managed to bring himself up to Sannin level in two years. I guess you could argue that he had already been trained since birth by the greatest ninja of Konoha and had more experience, having lived to sixteen in his dimension, but Sasuke has the sharingan and that totally bypasses like...everything. Even without Kage bunshin, Sasuke can just copy Orochimaru's jutsus and styles. Also, something big will happen in this five-six month period, so you'll just have to keep reading. Now without further ado, the latest chapter of HERO!

Chapter 4: An Eary Problem

Naruto blinked twice as the sun penetrated his shallow eyelids. Yawning with outstretched arms, he sudden froze as he checked his surroundings. There was a pink dresser, a pink mirror, a pink bedpost, and for goodness sakes a pink door. In a panic he quickly jumped out of bed only to have something grab his leg.

"HA! TAKE THAT!" Throwing a kunai at his feet, he blindly swerved around to the door. Opening it, he suddenly stopped as he saw a shocked Sakura holding a tray full of breakfast. Looking back, he saw a small pink bear pinned to the floor by kunai by his earlier assault.

"Naaaaruuuuutooooooooooo..." The pink haired girl whispered dangerously as the tray in her hands trembled with anger.

"Ehehehe... Sorry about that?"

(Five minutes later)

Naruto nursed a swollen left eye as he munched happily on his toast. After a bit of a skirmish, she had given him breakfast and told him why he had slept at her house.

"Oh man, and when my parents saw you on my back... Their faces were priceless!" Sakura held her stomach as she laughed hysterically. "Hahahaha! And then they were like, 'Oh, is that your boyfriend?'"

Naruto choked on his bread as he started to chew more slowly.

Sakura continued as if she hadn't seen him and waved her hand. "I was just like, 'He's Naruto.'" After that they just laughed and told me to put you in the guest room."

Naruto quirked his eyebrows as he looked around. "Isn't this your room though?"

Sakura laughed as she nodded. "Well about that, you kind've just...collapsed in my room while I tried to get blankets for you. You know, you really weigh a lot. Even after all that training I was barely able to carry you to my house. You're not getting overweight, are you?"

Naruto shook his head as he began to pull off his shirt. At once Sakura yelled and whacked his head with a little more force than necessary.

"AGH! Sakura! I'm only showing you my weights!" As if emphasizing his point, he pulled off the shirt to reveal a vest full of pocket weights.

"Oooh..." Sakura's ears grew red as she mumbled an apology.

Naruto waved her off as he quickly stood up. Making his way to the window, he swiftly opened it before smiling brightly. "Well, I think I've imposed for longer than necessary. You're an awesome friend Sakura. Say thanks to your parents for me."

Sakura quickly stood up as she hovered over to him. "Wait! Where are you going? Is it training again?"

Naruto shook his head as he stuck one leg out the window. "No. I have to meet someone. See you later Sakura-chan!" With that, the blond quickly jumped out and ran off.

Sakura sat back down as she stared at her once fluffy doll. Petting it, she decided that a girl talk with Ino was in order.

OooOo

Naruto quickly made his way to the forest as he felt his consciousness slipping. Ever since he had woken up, his head had felt like it had been on fire. However, he didn't want to worry Sakura over it, so he had kept quiet. Landing in a relatively closed clearing, he fell to the ground as he grasped his head. Gasping, he tried to make a mental link with the Kyubi.

'_Fox... What's wrong with me?'_

"**I told you that I would get you a little present, didn't I?"**

Naruto searched his memory as he thought. '_Present?'_

Kyubi sighed as he started to send chakra to the blond's brain, sending impulses of dopamine to help calm him down. **"Sleep. You were interrupted during the process. In about two hours you'll be fine."**

Naruto nodded slightly as he felt his mind succumb to a promising slumber. _'I better be fine. Still...have...training...to do...'_

The Kyubi smiled as it started to pump chakra into Naruto's head. **"Just wait kid. We'll show your entire village what you're all about. And it will be with the awesome power of the Kyubi, not the Fourth Hokage. No longer are you Konoha's legacy. You are now mine."**

OooOo

A chunin slowly walked up to the desk as he carefully prodded the sleeping Hokage with a stick.

"Um... Hokage-sama?"

The sleeping woman stirred for a second but fell back to sleep immediately.

Daring to be brave, the man boldly walked up to the desk and tapped her shoulder lightly. His response was a fist to his chest that made him fly through three consecutive walls. Yawning tiredly, the female Hokage stretched out her arms and looked around.

"Wha? What happened?"

Another Chunin then walked through the door as he coughed lightly. "We were told to give this message to you. Apparently it's from the Fire Country Daimyo.

_The Daimyo himself? _Thought Tsunade.

"Interesting. Give me the letter."

"Hai." With a quick walk, the ninja gave her the letter and disappeared soon after. Dropping all formalities, she ripped the envelope top off and took out the parchment. Her eyes quickly scanned the information with mild interest. However, as she got to the end her hands started to tremble with anxiety. Not bothering with the pager, she quickly yelled out.

"GUARDS! ANBU! ANYONE!"

Approximately six ANBU and two jounins entered the room in a flash. They simultaneously bowed their heads in respect as they addressed their leader.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"Get me Nara Shikamaru. We've got an A class mission on our hands."

OooOo

"So you guys haven't talked at all?"

Sakura shook her head as he took a sip from her lemonade. "I didn't say that. We talk all the time. Er, well, when we meet we talk. Actually, I do most of the talking. But we talk."

Ino thought for a second before asking again. "Do you think he still likes you?"

Sakura laughed as she looked at her friend. "I don't think he ever REALLY liked me. It was more of a crush. I guess he's over that now too."

Ino threw her hands up in exasperation as she finished the rest of her cola. (A/N: BWAHAHAHA! You can never escape the Coca Cola company! It is OMNICIENT!) "I don't get it! Why are you so crazy about him?! I mean, you weren't even this bad over Sasuke! I admit, Naruto's gotten pretty cute over the years, but he's not the _best_ looking guy in Konoha. Well, besides his eyes." Ino suddenly had a dreamy look as she sighed. "His bright, cerulean eyes are incredible. They're so vast and thoughtful, always humoring you or giving you-"

"Ahem."

Ino suddenly broke out of her reverie with a start as she saw a smiling Sakura with a knowing smile.

"You like him too, don't you Ino."

Ino was about to shout out but stopped as she thought. "Damn... It's just like olden days isn't it Sakura?"

"Mhmm..." Was the pink haired girl's only reply.

OooOo

Shikamaru wasn't the type of guy you'd see parading around town with destinations in mind. No, you could probably find him staring at clouds or playing Shogi with old men. But at this moment, the current lazy ninja was making his way around town with a scroll held loosely in his hand.

"Man... How troublesome. Five guys... Reminds me of the whole Sasuke ordeal again."

Shikamaru groaned in annoyance again as he looked at the mission scroll. The Gondaime had assigned the shadow user to a top secret A rank mission that involved a trade disrupting yakuza band. The reason why it was A rank though was because there were rumors that the organization had an incredible amount of missing nins at their disposal. Sighing, Shikamaru trudged his body towards the Hyuuga complex as he sought after his first pick.

OooOo

Naruto woke up with a start as he felt incredibly refreshed. The pain in his head was no longer there, and everything felt so much clearer. Sighing with comfort, he heard the trickling of a stream nearby. Standing up, he walked towards it while admiring the lush green forests. After walking for an hour though, he suddenly stopped as he thought carefully to himself. He was still hearing the stream, even now, meaning that it was still a good few kilometers away. It was after the hour and twenty minute mark that he finally found his way to the small and elusive stream.

'_Okaaaay... I know that my hearing's not THAT good. Kyubi? Do you have an explanation for this?'_

The Kyubi laughed loudly as he grinned smugly. **"Look at your reflection in the river."**

Naruto curiously peered over to see his reflection and almost recoiled in shock. There staring back at himself was his face with two golden little fox ears protruding from the top of his head with crimson eyes staring back at him. His hair had also gotten slightly darker and longer. Grabbing his ears, Naruto felt their furry forms and quickly screamed at the fox.

_'WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE?' _

If Naruto could have seen the Kyubi at that moment, he would've sworn that the fox shrugged. **"Those are called ears."**

"_AGGHHH!! I KNOW THAT! BUT WHAT ARE THEY DOING ON THE TOP OF MY HEAD?!"_

The Kyubi barked laughter as he snidely remarked. **"It's your birthday present. The ears let you have greater hearing and the eyes make you look really cool." **

_'...Really cool?'_

"**Yeah."**

Naruto stopped for a second before asking again.

_'These eyes...have the sole purpose of making you look cool?'_

The Kyubi grinned anxiously as he nodded. **"Well that, and the fact that they can emit a demonic killer intent that can pretty much make your average jounin piss his pants. Oh, and I guess they improve your eyesight like maybe two fold or something. Not really sure. But the important thing is that they look cool."**

Naruto closed his eyes as he took a deep breath.

'_So you've given me two extra ears to help me hear a little better while my eyes can do nothing but make people pee their pants while letting me see better?!'_

The Kyubi smiled. **"You forgot the fact that it makes you look cooler."**

Naruto was about to scream in annoyance when he suddenly stopped. _'Okay...is there any way to get back to normal?'_

"**Why would you want to go back to such a pitiful form? At least in this state, you'll continue to grow."**

Naruto slapped himself on his head as he sighed. _'What do you mean, "grow"?'_

"**Basically, the longer you stay in that form, the more power you'll get. You can already feel it can't you? Your chakra reserves are increasing exponentially. Soon, you'll start getting tails and you'll be able to control the elements and-"**

_'WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT!!! What do you mean by tails? Like, coming out of my butt tails?'_

The Kyubi nodded.

_'OKAY! Like I said, is there any way to get back to normal?'_

"**Why would you want to lose power?"**

Naruto shook his head as he groaned. _'Are you going to tell me or will I have to beat the information out of you.'_

The Kyubi sighed as he caved. **"Alright, I'll teach you how to revert back to human form. But promise me that you'll stay in this form while you sleep at least. That way when you actually use it, it'll be useful."**

_'Deal. Now teach me the seals for the transformation process.'_

Kyubi nodded as he showed him the seals.

OooOo

Shikamaru currently had four people behind him. They included the genius prodigy of the Hyuuga clan, Hyuuga Neji. The taijutsu expert and specialist, Rock Lee. The main medic of the group, Haruno Sakura. And finally the group tracker, Inuzuka Kiba. His best friend Chouji was out on a mission with his dad, and all the other genin were busy. That left Uzumaki Naruto. The number one surprising ninja.

Shikamaru groaned as they looked all around the village for the blond. After an hour of searching, they decided to split up and look for him. Neji was currently using his byakugan to search the premises while Kiba and Akumaru were following his scent. Yawning loudly, Shikamaru looked around with lazy eyes before muttering.

"Troublesome."

OooOo

Naruto ran back towards his apartment as he felt his eyes return to normal and his ears shrink into his skull. The increase of chakra he had felt in that form was already gone, and he had to admit that the feeling was awkward. Shrugging, he continued his pace as he quickly leapt from building to building. After what felt like forever, he finally jumped through his apartment porch and went into his bedroom. Opening up his newly earned scroll from having fought the Kyubi, he started to read up on the Shadow Walking jutsu when he heard a sudden knock at his door. Annoyed at the disturbance to his reading time, he was about to stand up and yell that it was open when he suddenly felt something off. Anybody that knew where he lived simply barged into his house without regard to the lock. The fact that someone was knocking meant that the person was a stranger. Being the ever so cautious one, he quickly made a kage bunshin and sent it to answer the door. He meanwhile took the scroll and snuck outside. If it was a hostile person, the clone would be destroyed and he would feel the influx of chakra. Hanging on the ledge with chakra, he then continued to read as he kept one ear open for sounds of engagement.

(Naruto Clone)

The clone opened the door cautiously and slowly. Standing there was an old man that seemed to be blind. The blind man, when asked what his business was, simply gave him a small brown package. Without any other words, the man slowly walked away, leaving a confused clone.

(Naruto)

Feeling his clone dismiss itself, he received the information and quickly jumped in. Using a scan jutsu on the package to see if it had a trap, he then removed the brown paper covering. It was an ornate box that seemed to hold an obsidian blue etching on it. Opening the box, he almost dropped it in shock to discover the object inside. Bewildered and extremely confused, he ran out the door to look for the old man but couldn't find him. Staring back at the object, he shook his head in disbelief. But how did anyone know...

OooOo

The old man walked away with a smile as he treked up a grassy hill. The image of the man suddenly disappeared though as a woman in her late twenties suddenly took his place.

"Hope you like your early birthday gift Naruto. Sensei would have wanted you to have it. It's time to be the hero that you were born to be. I'll be back to help you again when the time comes... Kazama Naruto." Pulling a hood over her head, she then quickly ran to the forest at an extremely fast pace.

OooOo

Naruto stared at the legendary three pronged kunai with shock before reading the note tied on it. It simple said,

_I hope you learn to use this well._

_I'll be watching you from the distance._

_Keep working hard for your goals._

_Happy Birthday Naruto-kun._

The card was unsigned, but that was a matter for some other time. Whooping with glee, Naruto realized that he would now be able to use his father's Hiraishin jutsu again. He had thought it impossible before since there weren't any of his father's kunai around, but now that he had one... Replications of the weapon would be a cinch. Eagerly pocketing it, he then turned to his scroll, anxious to learn the the shadow walk jutsu before proceeding to his father's legendary technique.

OooOo

Shikamaru and the group met up again as they sighed collectively. They had gone through the entire day without being able to find the blond. It was almost as if he had disappeared from the face of the earth. Neji groaned in annoyance as he dismissed his bloodline for the umpteenth time. Deciding that the search was futile, they all sat down on the benches with grim dispositions only to see a whistling Naruto walk joyfully past them. The blond suddenly stopped as he waved to them happily.

"Oh, hey guys!"

Silence.

Finally, Sakura stood up as she pointed to him with burning eyes.

"GET HIM!!!!"

Naruto's mouth opened slightly in surprise as he saw the entire group of ninja suddenly take out kunai.

"Wait-wait what?!"

OooOo

That night, people from Suna could have sworn that they heard screams of pure agony and pain.

OooOo

"Oh...so you guys were looking for me?" A bloody Naruto coughed from within the concrete.

Sakura paused as she went down to the buried Naruto and poked his arm.

"Hey, don't die yet. We still need you for the mission."

At once, Naruto flew out of his concrete grave and righted himself.

"Mission? What mission?"

The entire group sweat dropped as they shook their heads. Each one simultaneously thinking, _How the hell did he get up so fast?_

As Naruto brushed some imaginary dirt off of his shirt, he flexed his arms as he smiled.

"So what's our objective?"

Shikamaru coughed lightly as he stepped forward.

"Alright. Since we're ALL here now, I'll begin explaining our mission. As most of you know, our mission will be A rank. The requirement for the ninja is actually jounin level, but Hokage-sama has made exceptions to the rank. Seeing as how some of you are still chunin and one of you are genin."

Naruto smiled sheepishly at this while scratching his head. Shikamaru sighed as he continued his explanation.

"Basically, we've found a ring of Yakuza that have been causing trouble for our surrounding trade nations. The leaf daimyo has ordered us to clean up this mess and end it now."

Sakura looked thoughtful before she suddenly raised her hand. "But yakuza are easily dealed with by chunins or even genin. Why do we need jounins for this matter?"

Shikamaru revealed the mission scroll. "That's the thing. The Yakuza are rumored to have missing nins at their disposal. Naruto, Sakura. I'm sure that you guys have had experience with missing nins before."

Sakura nodded while thinking about Zabuza and Haku as Naruto thought of ten entirely different ninjas.

"Good, then you know the severity of the situation. Anyways, we leave tomorrow at six a.m., so bring supplies and weapons. Time period might be anywhere from ten days to a month, so say goodbye to your friends and family. Alright, dismissed."

Neji shook his head as he walked towards his complex, muttering things like "stupid blonds" and such. Lee bounded away with full power as he eagerly returned to his training. Kiba yawned loudly before cursing at Naruto for being such an idiot.

Meanwhile, Sakura lingered behind as she went up to Naruto.

"Hey Naruto. Want to go get something to eat?"

Naruto shook his head as he stretched out his limbs. "I still need to get some training in. I'll see you tomorrow though."

Sakura sighed softly as her eyes became downcast. Nodding apathetically, she then waved goodbye as she walked off to her house.

Seeing that the girl was gone, Naruto quickly made hand seals as he walked over to the nearest shadow. As soon as his feet made contact with it, his entire body started to melt into the black void, eventually leaving no trace of him. A few seconds later, he appeared on the other side of the village, out of the shadows of some trees in an isolated training area. Concentrating, he released his half demon form as he felt the protuberances on his head materialize. His eyes also sharpened slightly, with his muscles expanding. He immediately heard ever breath of any creature in at least a mile radius with their heartbeats echoing steadily. Droplets from leaves also did not go unnoticed, and the paths of stray winds were familiar to him. His eyes noticed the fine lining of the trees while even ants would stray from their normally imperious path to escape the blinding killer intent from his eyes.

"**Good. You can already feel the effects of using it for the second time. Now stay in this form for the whole night. After that, you should at least reach a higher level of energy."**

Naruto nodded as he began training in his new form. _This time around, things will be different. _

Naruto created a rasengan, which immediately swelled to three times its normal size while shining dark red instead of its normal vibrant blue. Staring at it in awe, he then rushed up to the tree with his attack leading as the ball completely obliterated the tree and the surrounding foliage around it.

_Yep. Things will definitely be different. _

TBC...

A/N: Well, that was kind of a transition chapter. Either way, next chapter will have the mission and a major plot twist. It'll completely warp the entire story. Now it may seem like Naruto's overpowered, but trust me when I say that there's a reason he needs to be. SPOILER! The Akatsuki will not be the strongest enemies of this story. Ohhhhh no. Hehehe, I have something much more devious planned. But yeah. Enough of that. About the pairings, this will be the last chapter. It seems that Yumi's in the lead right now, followed closely by a Kin and Temari. Well, that's all! Review please! Oh, and I was thinking. If I ever do a crossover story, (And by crossover I mean Naruto going to another anime), which one do you think I should do?

A NarutoxStar Wars

A NarutoxAvatar

A NarutoxBleach

A NarutoxInuyasha

A NarutoxD. Grayman

A NarutoxSamurai Deeper Kyo

A NarutoxDragonball Z

Well, wait for my Kaze no Kami sama, as I'm updating that next. Oh, and I'm pretty much done with my next chapter of Insatiable Instability. So check that out too. Now here are some review topics to consider in your awesome reviews.

1) Remember, pairings are still up. This is the last chapter for pairing votes, so please put in your votes now.

2) Whoever could the person that gave Naruto the special kunai be? I thought that I made it pretty obvious, but yeah.

3) What crossover would you guys want? (Choose from the list)

4) Sasuke. Good guy or bad guy?

5) How do you like my foxy form? Hehehe. Inspired by Inuyasha's ears.

POWER LEVELS!

From now on I'm only going to show power levels after major fights. They're kind of like spoilers, you know?

Anyways, click that bottom left "GO" button and review please! Neotonix commands you...


	5. Goldilocks

A/N: READ!!! IMPORTANT!!! Some of you, when giving your awesome reviews, mentioned that you wanted one of the crossovers that I posted in the last chapter. Those crossovers were for potential stories, not this one. I am definitely not making this into a crossover story. However, my newest story will probably have a bunch of them, so check it out. Now that that's over with, I give you the latest chapter of Hero.

Chapter 5: Goldilocks

"This is Lazybear, I repeat, this is Lazybear. I'm in front of the complex. What is your position Pinky? Over."

Sakura swore as she quickly dived into a bush. "This is Pinky." Looking over to Kiba, who was crouching next to her, she nodded. "Dogman is next to me. I'm in position. Over."

Shikamaru sighed as he looked ahead at the main gate. "Now, Goldilocks, Eyeballs, and Green Beast. Make sure you get inside WITHOUT being seen. It's crucial that we don't get caught. Oh, and make sure that-"

"Why am _I_ Goldilocks?"

Sakura hushed him as she whispered through her headpiece. "Shut up Naruto. That was the best name we were able to think of in such short notice."

Naruto whined as he pouted. "Yeah, but Lee's name is _GREEN BEAST_! It sounds so much more cooler!"

Neji sighed as he crossed his arms. "Would you rather be called Orange Beast Naruto? Although that sounds like one of those strange flavors you put in your ramen, it would certainly fit you."

"Shut it Eyeballs."

Neji smirked victoriously as he held up a peace sign. Shikamaru groaned as he massaged his temples. This mission was already turning out to be troublesome. After leaving Konoha, they had quickly found the base of the Yakuza in the outskirts of the fire country. It was huge though, meaning that an ambush was out of the question. However, while Neji and Kiba were definitely good for stealth missions, Naruto and Lee were...less subtle.

"Hey, Lee. I bet that I could take down more guys then you."

From far away, Lee pumped his fists as he yelled into his receiver. "YOSH!!! I WILL TAKE YOU UP ON THAT OFFER! THE LOSER MUST DO 1000 PUSH-UPS! BUT NARUTO-KUN, PLEASE REFER TO ME AS MY SPRINGTIME FRESH NAME, THE GREEN BEAST!"

"Shut up Lee!" Shikamaru swore as he looked around. Someone had to have heard that.

"AH! AGAIN! MY NAME IS NOT LEE, IT'S THE-"

"SHUT UP LEE!!!" All five of the ninjas yelled into the receiver as Lee immediately grew quiet. The six ninjas all clamped their mouths as enemy ninja suddenly jumped out of the giant mansion. Shikamaru quickly jumped into a tall tree as he began to think up some strategies.

Oh well. They had tried infiltration, but it had eventually come to this. Creating the seals for the Kagemane, he then waited patiently as he looked for an opening. Either way, he had known that they'd end up fighting sooner or later. Sighing, he watched as Naruto beamed at the ninjas before pointing his finger at them.

"WATCH OUT MISSING NIN! UZUMAKI NARUTO HAS COME TO OWN YOU ALL!"

Sakura slapped her head as she jumped out of her hiding spot to join him. "BAKA! Now we have to fight all of them!"

Naruto grinned as he pulled out a kunai. His wind affinity slowly took over the physical form of the sharp blade as the knife grew longer. "I know. I wanted this to happen. Sneaking around isn't my style. At least.. for these kinds of missions. Besides, I need to cut loose for a little bit. It's been a while since I've had field duty."

"Geez! Naruto, you-"

Lee walked over to them also as he smiled happily. "I'm sorry, but I must agree with Naruto. I too have been wanting to fight."

Sakura then looked back to see Neji and Kiba also walking up to them. Sighing, she reached into her pouch as she pulled out a pair of brown leather gloves. "Why are men such idiots?"

OooOo

Itachi walked around the town as he saw Kisame grin anxiously. Supposedly, the Rokubi lived here. But... where? Frowning, he walked around a bit more before stopping. They had searched anyone that had a relatively high chakra signature, but there was no one in the entire town with a chakra level even close to a genin's. Looking up at Kisame, he saw the still smiling shark man look into the stores with glee. What was the fool so happy about? 

"Kisame."

"Huh? Itachi?" The giant man walked over to Itachi as he continued to smile. "What do you want from me?" In a moment of fear, he jumped back as he held his money pouch firmly. "You're not going to take more money, are you?"

Itachi frowned as he looked at his delusional partner. "No. I was just wondering why you were smiling like such an idiot."

Kisame frowned as he placed his sword down. "What, does it matter? What if I'm just having a good day?"

Itachi closed his eyes as he smirked softly. "After all these years with you, I know that you never have any 'good' days. You've got the worst luck imaginable. So I'm guessing that there's a good reason why you're acting like such a baboon."

Kisame gave a toothy grin as he barked out a laugh. "As usual Itachi. Right on the dot. It just so happens that this village is known for their good food. I was just thinking that we could get some food to eat after we complete this mission."

Itachi scoffed as he stood up. "Disgusting fool. All you ever care about is food. I have no need for such physical comforts."

"HEY!" Kisame yelled as he pointed at Itachi accusingly. "You eat that Pocky of yours every minute of the day!"

Proving the shark man's point, Itachi took out a box of strawberry flavored pocky and opened it in one swift motion. "Ludicrous. Pocky isn't food."

Kisame tilted his head as he stared at him. "They aren't?"

Itachi turned roughly as he continued to walk. "You ignorant fool. They're gifts from heaven."

Silence.

Kisame sweatdropped as he shook his head. "You're kidding right? Even you have to admit that that didn't make sense."

Itachi made no reply as he ate his pocky. Although the tiniest sweatdrop could be see on the back of the apathetic Uchiha's head.

OooOo

Sakura swore as she fended off two mid level chunin ninjas. They were strong, each one a little weaker than her, but together they had incredible teamwork. Seeing their scratched Mist headbands made her feel nostalgic of the wave country mission. Thinking quickly, she leapt to the side as she avoided a cut from the man's chain sickle, and quickly ran towards the other with chakra scapels in her hands. At the last moment, she jumped as she made fifty bunshins surround her. While she couldn't make a lot of Kage bunshins, regular bunshins made no real impact on her chakra reserves.

The man quickly tried to swing through them all as she quietly snuck behind him. In an instant, she made a giant smoke screen erupt through the entire area from dismissing her clones and quickly ran up to the man to deliver a solid punch to him. She felt the bone sickening contact, and quickly drew back as she focused her attention on the other one. Smirking, she finished off the second one fairly quickly with a few well placed jabs before turning her attention towards the others. Naruto was currently fighting the leader of the missing nins while Lee was taking on six at once. Shaking her head, she looked over to Kiba who was using Akamaru to take down three other ninja. From the corner of her eye she saw Neji finishing up with his seventh ninja as several dead shinobi lay near the tree where Shikamaru was hiding. The lazy ninja had obviously used his shadow binding technique to choke them. She suddenly felt the wind change as she quickly ducked to avoid a kunai. Seeing her new target, she rushed over to him as she gathered chakra into her arms.

Naruto laughed as he dodged the ninja's attacks. They were pathetically slow, with each move incredibly predictable. Sighing, he pulled out his kodachi as he readied himself. Looking around he saw at least fifty ninja still left standing around them. Holding his sword up in a scarecrow position, he jumped back as he stood on his toes and gathered chakra. A graveyard dance with only one sword would probably do the trick.

Shikamaru stopped reaching out with his shadows as soon as he saw Naruto jump away. Seeing the serious look on the normally hyperactive boy told him that he was about to do something...big. Resting on the tree branch, he frowned ever so slightly as he carefully watched him.

"Show me how strong you've got with your secret training Naruto."

Lee was just finishing up his ninth victim when a sudden gust of wind tore through the entire front of the complex. He then noticed that Kiba, Sakura, and Neji had also stopped fighting, since the enemy ninja were simply dropping like flies.

A giant flash of light and a swirling after image of Naruto appeared in spontaneous movement, with the blond dancing to the wind. Each new swirl brought down another ninja, and each new flash took down another two.

After an exact time span of six seconds, Naruto suddenly reappeared in front of the group as he bowed gracefully with his kodachi neatly sheathed in its scabbard.

"My comrades, our mission awaits. I believe it's time to go in now."

Sakura's eyes were as big as saucers as Lee felt his blood pump with more adrenaline. Neji kept rubbing his eyes as Kiba simply...stared. Shikamaru then jumped out his tree as he walked up to Naruto.

"Change of plans. We go in a line formation. Lee in the front with Naruto right behind him. I expect you guys to finish off everyone that tries to ambush us. Neji, you're in the back with Kiba right after Naruto. Sakura, you stay behind me and help heal anyone that gets hurt. Now stop gaping at the blond baka and get in formation. As troublesome as it is, we have a mission to finish."

Sakura shut her mouth as nodded. She could ask how Naruto had become so strong later. Right now, they still had a mission to do."

The six immediately got in line as they dove headfirst into the complex.

OooOo

Lee rapidly kicked through the line of ninja as Naruto finished off any other ones that the Green beast might have missed. From the information they had gathered, the head of the Yakuza gang was supposed to have been up in the top room. Plowing through the groups of guards, the six ninja flew up the stairs with all the precision of an elite ninja team. Somewhere along the line, Naruto had taken command, yelling out orders to and fro. For some reason, the blond seemed to fit the role perfectly, almost as if he had been commanding ninja all his life.

"SAKURA! GET BACK! KIBA, AKAMARU! COME TO THE FRONT AND CLEAR THE HALL WITH A GATSUUGA!"

Kiba nodded as he and his partner jumped in front. Immediately after executing their technique, Naruto cast a quick genjutsu that made the fallen men appear as if they had been brutally torn apart.

Shikarmaru raised an eyebrow as he looked curiously at Naruto. _So, you're trying to lower their moral by scaring them. Interesting move Naruto. What else are you hiding from us?_

Naruto gathered up chakra as he suddenly stopped. The line immediately halted as they looked up at the blond expectantly.

"Wait up. We're wasting too much time."

Kiba angrily snarled as he pointed to the end of the hallway. "Then why are we stopping!? We should keep moving."

Naruto glared at Kiba suddenly, making the entire group shudder. "No, at this rate, he'll escape before we reach the top. Back away everyone. This might cause a mess."

The ninja all nodded as they jumped away to the opposite wall. Seeing that they were far enough, Naruto started to circulate wind around his arm. Grounding his feet, he then started to pump chakra into his legs as he looked up at the ceiling.

"When I go up, make sure you follow immediately to avoid being crushed by the debris!"

The group nodded as Naruto gritted his teeth. The simple wind around his arm suddenly became a raging tornado as he let the chakra in his legs suddenly explode, propelling himself up through the ceilings. Sakura was the first to recover as she quickly jumped up after him. The others followed suit as they saw Naruto crash through each level of the mansion with ease. (Think Ken's uppercut from Street Fighter.) After a good six floors, Naruto stopped as the other five ninja also sat down to rest.

Kiba looked up tiredly at Naruto as he waved his hand. "It's harder than it looks to dodge debris five stories straight. And you go too fast! Damn you Uzumaki."

Akamaru barked in agreement as he collapsed in exhaustion onto the floor.

Naruto laughed lightly as he took out a bag. "Here guys. Have some soldier pills. Just make sure that you only eat one."

The ninja eagerly took the pills as they felt their energy return to them. Sakura noticed though that Naruto hadn't seemed tired at all. In fact, he didn't seem to have one bead of sweat on him. She took note of this as she stored it away to think more of it later.

"Okay guys. I think you're ready to go on. But first, I'll explain why we stopped on this floor."

Shikamaru nodded. "I didn't think that it made sense for you to stop before we reached the top. As far as I could tell, you still had plenty of chakra left to easily go through the building. So why stop here?"

Naruto chuckled as he shook his head. "Ever the analytical one Shikamaru. Well, I'm not sure if you guys can sense it, but there's a really strong chakra signiture up there. I'm not sure who it belongs to, but either way, it's out of our league."

Lee pumped his fist into the air as his eyes blew fire. "YOSH! I'M SURE THAT WE WILL DEFEAT HIM TOGETHER THOUGH! OUR SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH WILL-"

"No. Sorry Lee, but the only way that we'll be able to finish this mission is by splitting up."

Shikamaru closed his eyes as he sighed. "A pincer tactic."

Naruto smiled as he nodded. "Exactly."

Seeing the confused look on the other's faces, Shikamaru sighed as he looked up. "Basically, he means that we'll send someone to be a decoy to draw out this stronger chakra while the others split up and attack our objective from different sides. In this case, I believe that Naruto's volunteering to take on the strange foe while we quietly finish off the Yakuza boss."

Sakura looked at Naruto harshly. "Why you? Don't try to show off Naruto. No matter how much training you've done, you can't possibly take on such a ninja yourself. You just said it! We're no match for it even together!"

Naruto smiled lightly as he summoned another kodachi. "It's not that I think I'll die or anything. It'll just be...really hard. And by the way, I have a feeling that things will be okay. Just trust me, okay Sakura?"

Sakura hesitantly nodded as she felt Shikamaru grab her shoulder. Looking back at the blond boy, she closed her eyes as she nodded. "You better not die baka."

Naruto nodded as his team members ran off towards the stairs. Seeing them leave his sight of vision, he then shrank into the shadows as he melted into the floor. The "man" was already waiting for him as Naruto quietly emerged from the shadow of a chair in the room above him. Sighing, he felt bad that he had deceived his own team members. Sure, he had sent Sakura and the others to finish the mission, but it wasn't because he thought that he couldn't win against the man. No, he had an entirely different objective in mind. From the moment he had accepted this mission, the cheery blond had known that this would happen."

The said blond walked slowly towards the center of the room as he flipped both his kodachi around into a reverse grip hold and sheathed/dismissed them.

"Guess you were waiting for me, weren't you?"

The figure remained silent as he slowly walked towards Naruto.

Naruto smiled as he also walked out to meet the man. "So I bet you're wondering why I'm here alone. If you're who I think you are, then you must know my true name." Naruto continued with a devilish smirk. "You know, I thought that it was just a coincidence when I felt your chakra spike during these past few years, but it seems as though I was right. You followed me into this dimension didn't you?"

The figure stopped moving now. The shadows were still obscuring his face, making him almost unrecognizable.

"I suppose I should at least give you a welcoming party or something...Obito-sensei."

A well built man in his mid twenties or so with goggles hanging around his neck smiled lightly as he walked towards Naruto.

"Kazama Naruto. Head of Assasinations and Sabotage of the Secret Black ANBU corps. Age sixteen in our world, and fifteen here. Son of Kazama Arashi and Min. I wouldn't have expected you to do any better. So, you figured it out did you? How did you know that it was me?"

Naruto laughed as he placed his hands in his pockets. After relaxing his body, he then looked at his former teacher before smiling brightly. "Only you suck at concealing your chakra so much. After all, last I remember, you had the chakra control of a baby."

Obito grinned smugly as his sharingan eyes flared four distinct tomoe. "Yeah, but I still have the ultimate sharingan. So you'd better respect me."

Naruto rolled his eyes as he waved his hands. "Yeah yeah. But, really, how did you get here?"

Obito sighed as he sat down on a couch. "Well, when you..er...died in our dimension, you also took out three of the strongest members in Akatsuki. That didn't sit too well with the leader of the group, so he basically sent like, three biju to attack us. As you could probably guess...that didn't work out so well for us."

Naruto gripped his sword tightly as he looked at Obito anxiously. "Did anything happen to Yumi?"

Obito shook his head as he sighed. "I don't know. I was the first to fight the tailed beasts. I managed to subdue the Sanbi, but the Rokubi made quick work out of me. I was knocked unconcious, and the last thing I knew, I was here. It didn't take me long to figure out what had happened, but I realized that I had a big problem. Basically, I found out that I had the chakra level of an average genin. It seemed that coming to this dimension gave me the same amount of chakra that I must have had when 'I' died in this timeline. So these past two years I worked hard to you know...catch up."

Naruto nodded as he took in the information. "Are you the only one that made it through?"

Obito nodded. "Yes. Now I know that you're hoping that Yumi also made it through...but don't get your hopes up."

Naruto tensed as he clenched his fists. "And why not?"

Obito sighed as he pointed at his sharingan. "Do you remember when I explained the effects of my fourth level sharingan? Like the secondary Mangenkyo sharingan, it's able to transport things into different dimensions. However, mine is able to transport myself through entire phases. I think that when I was knocked unconscious, my sharingan automatically took me to a place where I would be safe."

Naruto sank down as he relaxed his shoulders. Swearing, he cursed himself for thinking that something good could have happened to him.

"Okay, I get it. But... I'm really happy that at least you're here Obito-sensei."

Obito smiled as he patted Naruto's head. "It's good to hear that. Which reminds me, how is my former cold hearted teammate?"

"Oh, Kakashi? He's fine. Really different from the one you knew."

"Huh, interesting. And my wife?"

Naruto shook his head as he walked towards the door. "Dunno. Haven't seen her actually."

Obito rubbed his chin as he looked thoughtful. "Interesting..." After a pause, Obito's eyes brightened as he patted Naruto's back. "So how's the village treating you? Are you still the 'special and holier than thou' hero here?"

Naruto gave a sad smile as he looked out the window. "Actually, it's quite the opposite. I can't help but feel...bad for whoever inhabited this body before. The villagers constantly stare at me and whisper things behind my back. I really don't let it bother me, but if I had grown up with that..." He shuddered as horrific thoughts came into his mind. "Anyways, from what I could tell, he had some special friends. Sakura, Kakashi, and surprisingly Sasuke were three of them."

Obito raised an eyebrow as he smiled. "Sasuke eh? Weren't you two really good friends back in our world?"

Naruto's eyes darkened considerably as he recalled some bad memories. "We _were_ friends...until he back stabbed me. I still can't believe that he would have joined Akatsuki just to beat me. Either way, it's over now. Apparently, the Sasuke in this dimension killed the real Naruto. Guess that makes him a bastard in both dimensions. But enough about that. Where are you staying? I tried to look for you a couple of times, but for some reason, your chakra would show up in seven different places."

Obito smiled as he nodded approvingly. "Well, like I said. I'm still training. I've been using the Kage Bunshin method to get stronger, but seven still seems to be my max for the most efficient work output. As for where I'm staying, let's just say that I'll be leaving very soon. As soon as I find someone."

Naruto nodded as he relaxed into a tranquil state. It had been years since he had seen someone he had known, and the man's mere presence was immensely comforting.

The two remained in happy silence for a few minutes before Naruto heard a shrill shriek come from above them.

"Well, my group's probably done with the mission by now. I guess you'll come to Konoha your own way."

Obito smiled as he waved the boy off. "Yeah yeah. I just need to take care of some stuff. I'll see you soon enough Naruto. Just make sure you don't die. Oh! And by the way, there's a village about sixteen kilometers south of here. I heard that they make the best ramen in the world. Well, I'll see you later then."

With a small poof, Obito disappeared as Naruto calmly walked upstairs with his hands in his pockets.

_Hmm... Best ramen in the world eh? Sounds good to me. _

OooOo

"So Naruto, what happened?"

Naruto shrugged as he walked on ahead of the group. They were on the dirt path back to Konoha with Shikamaru lingering slightly behind. "Nothing happened. We barely even fought. He just left after he found out that you guys killed his financer. Missing nins are prone to do that you know."

Sakura nodded as she remembered Zabuza. Shikamaru on the other hand started to analyze the situation as he tried to think harder. _We reached the Yakuza leader a good ten minutes after we left Naruto to engage the mystery ninja. While I know that Naruto's really strong, he couldn't have possibly made it out of that fight without a scratch. And most fights are quick encounters. That means that they must have talked before hand. That draws two conclusions. One: He was friends or knew the person from before. Or two... He's in league with enemy ninja. While I doubt that Naruto would ever betray us...this still makes me worried. Ah geez, how troublesome._

Shikamaru suddenly blinked as he saw all five members of his squad stare at him.

"What?"

Sakura poked Shikamaru as she pointed at Naruto. "He just asked you a question."

Shikamaru looked at Naruto for a second before sighing. "Sorry, I wasn't listening."

Naruto laughed as he patted the strategist's back. "It's fine. Don't worry about it. I was just wondering if I could stop by the nearest town."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes as he spoke grimly. "We don't have time to do that. As troublesome as it is, the Hokage would probably want the news as soon as possible."

Naruto smiled as he shook his head. "No, I mean, I'll go by myself."

"You know I can't let you do that Naruto. Missions have to be completed with all the ninjas coming back home."

Naruto's eyes suddenly turned into puppy dog ones as he kneeled in front of Shikamaru. "Pleaaase! I'll even send a Kage bunshin with you so that it'll seem like I came with you. I reaaaally want to go to this town."

Shikamaru sighed as he put his hands up. "Okay fine. But you better keep the Kage bunshin alive."

Naruto beamed as he gave a good guy pose. "Don't worry. It'll have fifty percent of my chakra. That'll be more than enough to sustain it for a couple of years. So don't worry about it getting dismissed or anything."

Shikamaru nodded as he took the lead. "Okay, but as soon as you're done with whatever you're doing, you better come straight back to the village. You can send your Kage Bunshin to come with us once you get to that town. That way, we'll know that you made it safely."

Naruto rapidly nodded before smiling brightly. "Thanks!" With a flash he then ran off in the opposite direction while screaming bye.

Kiba shook his head while Neji sighed. Shikamaru thought for a second before turning to the two. "Kiba, Neji. I want you to follow Naruto."

The five audibly gasped before Shikamaru quieted them. "Listen, isn't it suspicious how he didn't get hurt at all from the encounter? I'm sure that Naruto's not betraying us, but something's fishy. The Naruto I knew didn't have the leadership skills we saw today. And his power... No amount of training could make him that strong so fast. So I need you to follow him. Do you two understand?"

Neji and Kiba nodded seriously as Sakura held back her tongue. She couldn't help but feel that like they were betraying him. As Neji and Kiba also ran after him, she finally turned to Shikamaru before asking timidly.

"Are you sure about this?"

Shikamaru sighed as he started walking towards Konoha. "Nope. But I hope I did the right thing."

OooOo

Itachi frowned as looked around the town. The Rokubi was still out of sight. Whoever it was, he had incredibly chakra control to fool even his sharingan. Looking over to a nice ramen stand, he sighed as he pulled out some change. After all, this town was supposed to be famous for its food.

OooOo

Naruto strolled up to the gates of the town as he felt his stomach rumble. Supposedly, they had the best ramen in this town. Quickly making a Kage bunshin to send back to Shikamaru, Naruto smiled as he strolled towards the nearest ramen stand. The delicious scent of ramen filled his nose as he floated hapily over to the stool. Sitting down anxiously, he yelled out an order for a beef Miso bowl before resting his head. The ramen came over soon enough, and Naruto forked the bowl whole into his mouth. In a matter of seconds, the ramen disappeared. Naruto smiled with stars in his eyes as he yelled out for more.

"Disgusting..."

Naruto stopped as he heard a low voice whisper in the air. Deciding that it was his imagination, he turned back to his food as he began to inhale it again.

Itachi watched with disapproval as he saw the teen devour his ramen. Such improper conduct was putrid to the senses. Grumbling, he kept his own ramen as he muttered a few choice words.

"What horrible manners."

This time, Naruto heard him and spun around with his chopsticks pointed at him.

"HEY YOU! WATCH WHAT YOU'RE-"

Naruto stopped suddenly as he saw a shocked expression appear on the man's face. Pointing at him, Naruto gaped as he stuttered his words.

"Itachi-sempai!"

"Kyubi!"

Kisame suddenly walked into the ramen hut with a bag full of chicken legs as he saw the two locked in a pointing contest. Grinning devishly, the sharkman dropped the chicken and grabbed his sword as he stood by Itachi.

"How lucky for us. We look for the Rokubi and find the Kyubi instead."

Itachi remained speechless as he observed the blond's face. There was something amiss about him. The last time they had saw him... Closing his eyes, Itachi smirked as he flared his sharingan. Well, he wasn't one to look a horse's gift to the mouth now.

"Prepare yourself, Kyubi brat."

TBC...

A/N: Okay! Before you ask questions like "Waah! How does Naruto know Itachi? Waaah!", just read the first chapter. He refers to Itachi as "Itachi-sempai." Meaning that he learned from him. Sooooo...their previous past will be explained later. SO NARUTO KNOWS THE ITACHI FROM HIS DIMENSION, BUT NOT THE CANON ONE. But yeah. Now, onto the review questions.

1)What do you think about their growths? You caught a glimpse of their strength. Do you think that anyone should be stronger? Weaker? And don't give me that "Sakura should be super weak" crap because you don't like her. MY Sakura character is going to be cool. Just, not Naruto pair cool.

2)ROMANCE...will not be coming anytime soon. Although we'll meet Yumi in the next chapter or so, nothing really special will go on between them. After all, this is an action/adventure fic. Here, romance comes second.

3)Itachi. Good guy or bad guy? You decide.

4)Kisame. Good guy or bad guy? You decide.

5)What will happen when the village finds out that Naruto's super strong now? Oh NO!

6)Do you like my story?

WELL! Thank you for your time, and I'll be updating either Insatiable Instability or NARUTIME next. Ja ne!


	6. Chance Reunion

So it's like 4 in the morning and I have a 25 page research paper due the next day and I'm writing fanfiction. Okaaaaay. You guys better review this.

_**Blah blah**_- Bijuu talking (Like Kyuubi or Ichibi)

_Blah blah- _Thinking

Chapter 6: A New Order

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he looked warily at the two ninja. He had gotten careless. This wasn't the Itachi-sempai he knew. This guy was a cold blooded murderer, a dangerous S-class member of Akatsuki.

Kisame smiled devilishly as he swung his sword up onto his shoulder. "So, I can cut off one of his legs this time, right? Last time he got away. We can't pass up such a great opportunity and besides, I'm getting itchy."

Itachi looked at his partner before narrowing his eyes. "We won't fight here. It'll gather too much attention."

Kisame broke his grin as he gripped his sword. "So what. We're just going to leave him here? This is too good of an opportunity to pass-"

"I did not suggest that Kisame. We can have this fight, but not through your methods."

Itachi walked slowly towards Naruto as he motioned for Kisame to stay put. "Uzumaki Naruto. Did you know that the Rokubi is here in this very village? Our original intent was to come and capture the him. If you come with us, we will stop our search and take you instead."

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he looked around. It could be a bluff, but if there was someone in danger... Naruto clenched his fists as he matched the Uchiha's eyes. "How do I know that you're not lying."

Itachi sighed as he saw that people were starting to gather around them.

"Believe what you want, but if you don't come with us, we'll destroy this village. Also, we will find the Rokubi and take him into captive. Will you carry that burden? You have until the sun sets. If you do not come to the village gate by then, we will assume that you have run away." Turning, he then nodded apathetically to Kisame. "Let's go."

The shark man gave one last grin before exiting the ramen stand. Naruto looked down as he swore. _Not if I find him first._ With a quick leap, Naruto scanned the area for any high level chakras as Kisame and Itachi watched secretly from the trees. The blond brat would lead them straight to the Rokubi...and they in turn would take them both.

OooOo

Somewhere in Konoha, a giant pig ran into a wall.

OooOo

(Back to The Village With Really Good Food, or TVWRGF for short.)

"Oi, Neji. What's he doing?" Kiba scratched Akamaru's ears as he watched from the trees.

"I'm not sure... But I'm sure it has something to do with the two ninja we saw earlier."

"Should we report back to Shikamaru?"

Neji closed his eyes as he frowned. "Yes. I have a bad feeling about this. Let's go pick up some back up and return here quickly."

"Roger that."

The two nin's quickly jumped out of their hiding place and ran towards Konoha, determined to catch up with Shikamaru before they got too far.

OooOo

Naruto ran through the town as he looked high and low. Dashing quickly through the alleyways, he tried to find any sort of item or person that emitted the Rokubi's signature. He first needed to find the Demon carrier and then make sure that he or she remained safe. After that, he could confront Itachi and what's his face head on and fight for the safety of the village. Sweating, he noticed that he had two hours before the sun set. Swearing, he jumped up to the highest point of the village before gathering his chakra.

KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!

Fifty clones materialized and transformed into different looking people before the blond's very eyes. Sending each one in a different direction, he continued his search for the precious and potential brother.

OooOo

On the other side of the village, Yumi struggled with her load as she strained under their weight.

"Come child, please take a breather. If you want to grow up to become a big boy, you have to take a rest. You've already finished almost half of the load. Come in for a nice drink."

Yumi fixed the short haired wig on her head as she tried to avoid eye contact. Even if she changed the hair, her face would always retain its girlish features. Therefore, it was pertinent that she did not let people see her face. Questions would lead to rumors, and rumors would lead to the Yakuza. Deciding that another half load wasn't too bad, she shook her head slightly. "I'm fine. Please, don't worry about me." Taking a deep breath, she struggled under the stress of her wounds from being dumped into the river as she clutched the large package. Her wound on her chest had already begun to bleed again, but as long as she finished before sunset, she could make it back to her small home and wash up before it got too late.

OooOo

The sun was almost down and Naruto had little luck in tracking down the Rokubi. Growling in anger, he punched a nearby tree and muttered profanity into the wind.

_Great... It's already dawn. Well, guess it's time to have some action._

Sighing, he jumped up and raced towards the gate of the village. They could try and take him, but he sure as hell wasn't going to make it easy. Gathering his chakra he prepared for the encounter as he saw the two Akatsuki members waiting near the gate.

Itachi smiled lightly as he saw Naruto approach them. They had failed to get the Rokubi, but it was no matter. The Kyuubi was much higher in their priority list after all.

"Hey Itachi. NOW can I cut off his legs?"

"No." Turning towards Naruto, Itachi held out his hand apathetically. "Come with us now."

Naruto slapped the hand away as he walked past them. "I'm not so young that I need someone to hold my hand. Let's get this over with Itachi."

Kisame looked between the two as he pointed at himself. "Hey, what about me?"

Itachi ignored his partner as he slowly reached for shuriken. "I can tell that you've become much stronger. It will be good for me if you could test my capabilities. I wonder, can you beat me?"

"You mean, us." Kisame corrected from the background.

"I don't know. But I'm sure that I could take you down a notch or two. Either way, I'll hurt you enough to at least deal some damage. Who knows, might even be a stalemate."

"Right! And I'll finish you off if that happens!" Kisame grinned victoriously.

Itachi and Naruto both turned to Kisame and pointed their thumbs down. "You. Shut up."

Kisame cringed as he suddenly knelt down and traced the dirt with his finger. Why were they always so mean to him...

Naruto put his attention back on Itachi just to see six shuriken fly towards him at a ridiculous speed. Drawing his kodachi, Naruto struck down all of the projectiles in one fluid motion as he jumped back to begin some seals.

"KATON: HOUSENKA NO JUTSU" A few dozen fireballs the size of giant basketballs suddenly flew towards Itachi.

_So, he's gotten a little better._

Itachi smiled as he began preparing a Katon: Gokakyuu no jutsu. The one giant fireball clashed with the other smaller ones, causing the area to explode in a fiery display of, well, fire. Itachi narrowed his eyes as Naruto suddenly flew through the flames with a rasengan in each hand. Using a doton jutsu, Itachi sank underground and narrowly avoided the two drilling balls of death. Determined to stay ahead, Itachi then jumped up from underground and quickly unleashed a Water dragon from his mouth. The dragon hit Naruto head on, but revealed a wooden log that had taken his place instead. Itachi's crimson eyes scaled the area as he looked for Naruto. The boy was no where to be seen, meaning that he was...

Itachi quickly jumped up as he began preparing for one of his strongest jutsu. Gathering chakra into his head, his sharingan eyes began spinning wildly as he waited for Naruto to emerge. Sure enough, the boy blasted up from the earth and had a giant swirling ball of white, red, and blue flames. Cursing, Itachi covered his hand with his Amaterasu, encoating the entire limb with a black flame. Using gravity, he raced head on towards Naruto with his hand outstretched.

"KAZAMARASENGAN!"

"AMATERASU!"

The two colossal attacks hit head on, with a blinding light encompassing the area. A sphere of energy surrounded the two ninja in a fifty foot radius, with neither side winning the battle. In the midst of all the chakra, Naruto and Itachi stayed deadlocked with each hand trying to overpower the other. Itachi's amaterasu was the strongest fire justu in existence, while Naruto's Kazamarasengan was the final and totally complete stage of the rasengan, one of the strongest jutsus ever created. At that point, it was a battle of willpower.

"Naruto-kun. I see you've become quite strong." The beads of sweat on Itachi's normally impassive face were already evaporating due to the extreme heat.

"Yeah, you're pretty strong too. I didn't expect you to be able to use the amaterasu like that though. Guess Akatsuki really did make you stronger."

Itachi smiled as he began to feel Naruto's attack weakening.

"You know, it may be possible for you to join us. That way, you might avoid the extraction process."

Naruto smiled as he concentrated on his attack. "Yeah, but would I still get my ramen?"

Itachi smirked at the unexpected answer and nodded. "As much as you want."

Naruto laughed as he felt the blood vessels in his arm implode. He didn't have much time left. Even if he transformed to his demon state, he would just end up over inflating his rasengan with too much energy, causing the attack to explode and thus kill them both. Sighing, he struggled to keep his arm under control as he breathed in chakra.

"I bet that if we were in different dimensions, we'd be great friends."

Itachi was taken aback by the sudden comment, causing a momentary lapse in his concentration. He however quickly regained control of the black fire before nodding slowly. "Maybe. But at this rate, it remains to be seen if one of us will even survive."

Naruto's skin had begun to peel back, revealing raw muscle behind them. Grimacing in pain, he then looked straight into Itachi's eyes as he smiled expectantly. "I know you can't use your Mangenkyo sharingan, since you barely have any chakra left. But before I lose this battle, let me ask you one thing."

Itachi narrowed his eyes as he wondered what could possibly be so important as to ask in the middle of a deadlock like this. Nodding his head, he listened carefully.

"Well, I was just wondering why you joined Akatsuki. I just thought that a person like you who has unlimited potential would never succumb to someone else's orders. In fact, I can see you more as a Kage than a mercenary. It just...seems like a waste."

Itachi widened his eyes as he stared at the ring on his finger. It was the symbol of his pledge to the Akatsuki leader, the one that would hold total control over his fate. He looked back at Naruto just to see the blond boy loosening his grip on the rasengan.

"Think about it, Itachi-sempai."

With that, Naruto let go of the energy and felt the combined force of both the Amaterasu and Kazamarasengan plow through him. The sphere of energy suddenly exploded, shooting off a ray of light in one direction. In an instant, the light disappeared and Itachi fell to the ground roughly. Dismissing his sharingan, he felt Kisame hold him up as he looked around for Naruto.

"Nice job Itachi. I knew that you'd win. But where's the kid? Don't tell me you killed him."

Itachi shook his head as he struggled to gain his bearings. "No, he is not dead. And...I did not win." Narrowing his eyes in anger, he clenched his fists. _He let me win... But why?_

Suddenly, the boy's voice came into his head as he heard Kisame mumble some nonsense about lights and food. _Well, I was just wondering why you joined Akatsuki. I just thought that a person like you who has unlimited potential would never succumb to someone else's orders. In fact, I can see you more as a Kage than a mercenary. It just...seems like a waste._

Itachi frowned as he heard the words in his mind again. Why did he join such an organization? What was his purpose now? Sighing, he frowned as he stood up on his own.

"We leave for Kumo."

Kisame looked at Itachi momentarily before shaking his head. "Wait, what about the Kyuubi-brat? Shouldn't we-"

Itachi repeated again with more force this time. "We leave for Kumo."

Kisame shrugged as he nodded. "Whatever you say Itachi. But why Kumo?"

Itachi couldn't hide his smirk as he limped slowly. "I hear that they are in dire need of a strong Kage."

OooOo

Naruto lay completely still with half of his body in a body of water. Groaning, he tried to move his hand, only to meet a whole lot of pain in the process. Deciding that it was just way too comfortable to lay there, he closed his eyes as he felt sleep invade his body. _Damn... Wish I had some ramen..._

With that, the blond fell into blissful unconsciousness as he missed the approaching figure.

OooOo

Yumi sighed happily as she stretched out her arms. It had been a long day, but nonetheless, a very good day. She had earned a fair amount of money-enough to live for at least three days-and had also payed the rent for the next month. Things were looking up for her, especially after her whole ordeal with the Yakuza gang. Shivering, she told herself not to think of such things and just focus on getting cleaned. Seeing the river, she thanked kami for some fresh water and lightly poked her feet into the water. The crisp fresh feeling peeled into her feet and she exhaled a sigh of relief. Checking the water closely though, she saw that the water flow was disrupted. Curious, she looked upstream to find the source of the blockade. Leaving her sandals behind, she quietly tip toed over and saw a rough heap of black, gray, red, and yellow. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was a person. Running over to him, she lifted him out of the water and checked his pulse. Despite all the singed clothing and the few cuts and bruises he had, the boy appeared to be okay. She was about to wake him up when one of his eyes suddenly peeled open.

"Yumi..."

At that, the blond fell stagnant again. Yumi froze however, as she felt her heart beat rapidly. Was this an assassin or a hired man from the Yakuza? Were they already sending men after her? If not, how did he know her name? Dropping the boy, she took a few steps back as she clenched her fists. We're the Yakuza already on her trail? She unconsciously took about three steps backwards before biting her bottom lip.

_What...should I do?_

_**You should leave him to rot. After all, he might try to bring you back to that place.**_

_But, he seems hurt..._

_**Do you remember what they did to you? Do you want to go back there?**_

_No! Of course I don't..._

_**Then do what I say. Leave him. **_

Yumi looked at her hands before sighing heavily. Even if she really wanted to help him, how would she carry him all the way to the village? Shaking her head, she sighed. The most reasonable thing was to tell a nearby villager. But who? Almost everyone shunned her because of her low social status. Sighing, she bent down and cupped the boy's face with her hand.

_He's so young and handsome. How could he be an assassin?_

_**They always come in handsome packages. That's what makes them so deadly.**_

_Yeah... Handsome..._

Yumi laughed as she sat down on the floor. Her, a slave of the Yakuza, thinking about boys? The whole idea was funny. In fact, she had never found any male attractive at all. Laughing again, she looked down at the boy's face before sighing. Grabbing his underarm, she slowly lifted him up and placed him on her back.

_**What are you doing? **_

Struggling with the body, she groaned with effort. "God, what are you wearing? You must weight at least a ton."

_**Kid, what are you doing?**_

_What's it look like? I'm helping him. _

_**Geez. You're too nice. Whatever, I did warn you though. **_

_Yeah yeah, thanks. Can you at least lend me some of that strength? I could really use that right now._

_**Sure kid.**_

Feeling her muscles reinforce with chakra, she positioned him to a more comfortable position on her back as she made a slow journey towards her small house.

OooOo

_**Hey kit. You're pretty screwed.**_

_What do you mean?_

_**I mean, you're screwed. For some reason, the Amaterasu that Itachi pulled on you drained a lot of your chakra. Even my chakra is drained to a certain extent. This guy is no joke. This Akatsuki organiation isn't going to be as easy as we thought.**_

_Yeah... But somehow, I don't feel very stressed. In fact, I'm feeling quite wonderful!_

_**Hm? Well, you shouldn't. At this rate, you'll probably die of blood loss.**_

_Ah... Can't you just heal me? I mean, don't you have unlimited chakra?_

_**Well... About that. Giving you the demon form took away about two thirds of my chakra. I'm doing all I can to keep you alive. And speaking of which, why didn't you use the FRIKKEN DEMON FORM?!**_

_Hmm... _Naruto mentally shrugged as he smiled. _Well, I guess you could owe it to the fact that I wanted to test my power against Itachi-sempai. After all, it would have been nice to see how far my training has taken me these past couple years._

_**Humans are the most retarded creatures on the planet.**_

_Hahaha! I guess so!_

_**Why the hell are you so happy?**_

_I'm not sure... But for some reason, I keep thinking of Yumi._

_**Well, just to let you know, I hope you die.**_

_Huh. Well, at least I'll die with you._

_**Ugh. Humans are so stupid.**_

Naruto simply smiled as he nodded.

OooOo

"Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru, Sakura, and Lee all turned around as they saw Neji and Kiba racing towards them.

Neji arrived first as he frowned solemnly. "Shikamaru... I have bad news. Naruto just met these two ninja..."

TBC...

A/N: Like I said, I was extremely busy. So y'all better review. If I'm nice, I'll include power levels next chapter. Oh, and check out **Insatiable Instability**. That was updated quite recently also. Now for the review questions.

1) Well, Itachi's got some plans for Kumo. How will that work out?

2) Yumi and Naruto? What will happen between them? After all, Yumi's disguised as a guy!

3) Do you like my story?

Please review!


	7. Ohhhh boy

A/N: OH MY GOOOOOD! I'm such an idiot. To my readers, I sincerely and humbly apologize. See this is what happens when you write four different stories at one time. Wow... I'm such an imbecile. For those of you who are wondering "What the heck is he talking about", well, the last section of the last chapter of Hero was totally wrong. I fixed it now, so if you try to look at it you'll find nothing, but before, I wrote this dramatic thing about Shin taking over Akatsuki. I totally forgot that Shin was the main character of my other story, Insatiable Instability. So please forget about Shin, and again, accept my apologies.

NOTE: I also fixed some mistakes in the first chapter. So that's okay now. Read the A/N in the end for information about the power levels.

Without further ado, here's the next chapter.

_Blah blah_: Thinking

_**Blah blah**_: Demon talking

Chapter 7: Interaction, Kidnapping, and Feelings, Oh my!

Naruto felt water trickle down his throat slowly, each droplet sliding against his rough and scratchy esophagus. Tasting the pristine liquid, he opened his eyes and tried to look around. However, the room was incredibly dark with very little light. He was, however, able to make out a small shadow standing over him. It was a shadow he knew almost too well.

"Yu-Yumi?" His voice was gruff and horse. The figure suddenly gasped in surprise and a few seconds later, the light turned on. Now that he could see clearly, Naruto saw that the person who had been feeding him was actually a boy. A very cute boy.

_Where the hell did that come from. Am I turning gay? _

_**It did strike me as odd that you never pursued any girls at that stupid village of yours. **_

_Shut up fox._

Realizing his manners, Naruto tried to get up but found that he couldn't. After a minute or two of trying to stand, he finally settled for kneeling instead. Bowing, he graciously thanked her and introduced himself. "My name's Uzumaki Naruto. Thank you for helping me. What's your name?"

Two things were currently dancing around in Yumi's mind at that moment. The first was that he was not a pursuer and thus did not know her. The second was that she still hadn't taken a bath, and was therefore, extremely hot and smelly from her day's work. Self conscious, she inched away and sat at the furtherest possible distance. Which in her case was only about six feet due to the small size of her house.

"My name's Yum... I mean, Yami. I've lived here my whole life and I found you half buried in the river. If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you?"

Naruto laughed as he scratched his head and leaned against the wall. "Well, I had originally come for some ramen, but that pretty much went to pieces when I met these two men. They tried to kidnap me and we basically fought. In the end, I'm not to sure what happened, but I guess they left and I fainted. That's pretty much it. But did you carry me all the way here by yourself? You must be pretty strong!"

Yumi smiled as she shook her head. It wasn't too hard. I'm used to carrying things. After all, it's my job."

Naruto whistled as he stood up. "Well, you could have taken off all of my weights beforehand. Since I placed seals on them, I can just summon them whenever I need them."

Yumi froze for a second before giving a half smile. "...Weights?"

Naruto nodded as he started to take off his shirt. Yumi immediately blushed and turned away, much to the puzzlement of Naruto. However, he pulled it off completely, showing a vest full of weights on top of a black muscle suit. Taking off the weighted vest, he then took off some more weights on his ankles and wrists, altogether causing a giant heap of black to gather next to her bed.

"Ahhh... I usually take off my weights when sleeping. No blood flow you know?"

Yumi simply gawked at him as she tried to count the weights. No wonder he was heavy.

"Umm... Naruto. Exactly how much do you weigh? With the weights I mean?"

Naruto thought for a second before smiling. "Well, I weight around 140 without my weights... I always try to wear double my weight so... 420 pounds. I also wear gravity seals, but those never come off. All in all, I have about 750 -850 lbs of resistance on me."

Yumi almost collapsed as she grabbed onto the corner of the table. "8...850? What exactly are you?"

Naruto immediately jumped up and switched into a pose that he had practiced for the last sixteen years of his life. "Future Hokage of the Leaf village... Uzumaki Naruto!"

Yumi smiled as she observed his almost child-like antics. It was nice to see someone energetic for a change.

"Well, future Hokage Uzumaki Naruto of the leaf village, I have to go take a bath now. I think I might have some food in the cupboard. Though it's not much, I hope it'll be enough for now." She intentionally kept out the fact that it was supposed to be her food for the next day. However, his answer was one she definitely did not expect.

"I'll go take a bath with you!" Chirped Naruto happily. "After all, I'm pretty dirty from the fight as well!"

Yumi turned several shades of red before finding the words to speak. "It's...okay."

Naruto grinned as he stood up and punched her chest. "Come on! In Konoha, I went to the hot springs with my buddies almost everyday! It'll be fun and-"

Yumi wrapped her arms around her chest as she quickly ran out of the house. This whole "disguising as a boy" thing was starting to have some negative aspects.

Naruto meanwhile stood in a slight stupor as she saw a dust trail leading out the door. What was his problem? From the back of his mind Naruto heard Kyuubi snicker, but put it off as he worried about his new friend.

_I hope I didn't push him away. He really seemed like a nice guy. Really familiar too..._

Kyuubi was meanwhile laughing his tails off. All nine of them. _**Kid... You're so stupid. Oh my gosh I can't believe how naïve you are.**_

_Heyyy! Don't make fun of me for no reason! Even I don't do that!_

Kyuubi's laughter died down somewhat as the great fox managed to calm down. _**Okay, but seriously. Take a look at her, I mean, his home.**_

Naruto missed the small let-up, and focused on what the fox said. _Yeah? What about it? I mean, it's small, but I've seen houses this small before._

_**You're really dense aren't you? Obviously "he's" really poor. **_

Naruto sweatdropped as he looked at the small amount of food in the cupboard. _So I shouldn't eat the food?_

_**What do you think?**_

Naruto thought for a second before answering slowly. _No...?_

Kyuubi smiled as he mentally pat Naruto's head. _**Good job. You've now reached the mentality of a first grader.**_

Naruto grinned as he stepped outside the door. _Yeah whatever fox. Anyways, I still need a bath. And technically, Yami didn't say that I couldn't go. I'm sure it'll be fine._

Kyuubi meanwhile remained silent as he snickered softly. This would be fun.

OooOo

Yumi sighed as she took off her wig and clothes. Stepping into the refreshing hot water, she smiled in happiness as she put a towel on her forehead. The wounds still hurt a little, but all in all, it was okay. Thankfully, the hot springs were usually empty at night. There was also no closing time, so she was able to bathe in her leisure. However, this particular day, she found that she couldn't relax completely. After all, a strange new person had been dumped into her life, and quite frankly, she didn't know what to do with him.

"Uzumaki Naruto..." She played the words off of her tongue as she thought about the blond enigma. She didn't even know that there were such people in existence. Her whole life she had been under the control of the Yakuza, so she theoretically knew very little about the outside world. In fact, she was lucky that she got a job in the first place. Life was hard, but it was still better than before. But that boy... she couldn't help but feel that she knew him. It was strange, almost as if they had been best friends in a past life or-

"Heeeey! Nice hot springs!"

Yumi froze as she heard the voice. It was him! Quickly grabbing her wig and clothes, she was about to run away when she suddenly heard his voice enter the pool area. Not knowing what to do, she shoved the messy brown wig onto her head and went as deeply into the water as possible.

"Ah! There you are!"

Yumi weakly waved as she kept her face barely above the water. Naruto soon entered the pool and leaned against the rocks. "Ahhhhh... This is great."

Yumi nodded as she scooted as far away as possible. "Yeah, great."

Naruto continued to be blissfully unaware of Yumi's discomfort as he waded towards her. "So you never really told me about yourself. I mean, I know your name, but besides that..."

Yumi gulped at his close proximity and tried to appear calm. "Well, there isn't much to know about me."

Naruto nodded as he thought a little. "What about your parents? Where are they?"

Yumi suddenly forgot about her predicament as she looked downcast. "I'd rather not talk about them. Let's just say that they deserted me."

Naruto's mouth formed an "O" as he turned away. "Sorry, I didn't mean to pry. But if its any consolation, I don't have any parents either! In fact, the majority of the people in my village hate me."

The blond smiled brightly while saying this, causing Yumi to once again doubt his sanity.

"Who would hate you though? I mean you're so happy and nice! I can't think of anyone-" Yumi suddenly shut her mouth as she blushed. She was usually so reserved and calm. Yep. There was something definitely strange about this guy. Deciding to withhold from any more emotional outbursts, she decided to ask a more generic question. "So... Why do you want to be the Hokage then? Aren't they supposed to protect the village?"

Naruto nodded as he looked up at the stars. "Precious people. In the beginning, I thought that I wouldn't have any here. But I quickly found out that I was wrong. Sakura-chan, Kakashi-san, Granny Tsunade, Shikamaru and the rest of the gang... I've made a lot of new friends that I'd die to protect, and that's what counts."

Yumi half smiled as she watched the handsome youth's face. "This...Sakura-chan. Is she your girlfriend?"

Naruto looked at her curiously before his head sank halfway into the water. "Not really. She's just a friend."

Yumi sighed in relief as she looked away. She certainly did not have any romantic feelings for the boy, but for some reason...

"Anyways! What can I do to help? After all, I should repay you for helping me at least!"

Yumi shook her head as she smiled. "No, it's fine. I was happy to help you. Did you eat yet?"

Naruto smiled as he shook his head. "My stomach hurts a little, so I'll be fine if I just rest. But really, I can help with work! Tomorrow, I'll go to work with you and help you out for the day! You said that you lift stuff right? Manual labor is right up my corner of work!"

Yumi stared at Naruto for a second before shaking her headWas this guy for real? Under different circumstances, she would have definitely labeled him as the perfect knight in shining armor for her. However, if he was a knight, then she was a pauper.

_Don't get ahead of yourself Yumi. You know this._

The girl sighed as she rested her head against the rocks. For some reason, the water felt especially nice that night.

OooOo

Naruto awoke with a start as he suddenly sat up and looked around. Rotating his head around like a sprinkler head, he quietly mumbled some words that sounded strangely like "ramen" and "Yumi" before falling backwards to sleep again. A couple minutes later, Naruto finally got up as he looked around.

_Oh yeah... I'm at that one dude's house. _

"Ah, Naruto! You've woken up!"

Naruto turned around to see Yumi walk through the door with a bag full of herbs. Pointing to them, he yawned loudly. "What are those for?"

The girl giggled a little before putting them on the table. "Oh these? I've got some injuries, from work (she quickly added), so I'm using these herbs to heal faster."

Naruto nodded as he got up and stretched. "Well since you're injured, that's all the more reason for me to work instead of you today. Where do you work?"

Yumi immediately got up as she shook her head. "You don't have to do that. I'll be okay."

Naruto smiled as he put on his weights. "Nah, it's fine. I need to get warmed up anyways. I have to head back to Konoha today, so I might as well pay you back for your troubles."

Yumi thought for a second as she weighed her options. Finally giving in, she sighed as she took out a paper and pencil. "These are the directions to the place. Basically, I bring sacks of straw and other agricultural products to people's homes. You get payed per delivery, but don't push yourself!"

Naruto immediately took the paper and saluted her. "I'll do my best Yami-san, so please recover quickly!" The blond then dashed out of the house and flew towards the designated area while Yumi held her head. Having a person in the house like him... was not so bad. Smiling, she whistled as she continued to stir the herbs together. It wasn't bad at all.

Naruto walked into the farm area as he searched for the main owner. After a couple minutes of asking around, he finally found the woman sitting in a chair.

"Excuse me miss, but I'm here today in Yami's place."

"Oh my," the old woman replied. "Did something happen to the child?" Being sharp, she immediately recognized that the boy thought that Yami was a guy. Really, did the poor child expect to fool people with that disguise? Shaking her head, she smiled as she saw the blond grin expectantly. Okay, so she fooled him. For now, she would play along with it.

Naruto smiled as he bowed. "He's not feeling well, so I volunteered to help instead. Would that be okay with you?"

The woman nodded as she pointed to some bundles. "The addresses are on each bundle, so simply deliver them. Now Yami, though frail, is actually my best worker. Most of my helpers average only around six bundles a day, but he always manages to do at least ten. I hope you'll work just as hard."

Naruto bowed again as he smiled. "Are these all of the bundles?"

The woman shook her head as she pointed to the barn next to the piles. "There are still about a couple hundred more bundles inside the barn. But you'll be hard pressed to finish the ones that are already outside."

Naruto grinned as he gave her a thumbs up. "Not to worry m'am. Future Hokage Uzumaki Naruto will take care of it!"

_Future...Hokage?_

Naruto turned from the elderly woman as he formed a familiar cross shaped hand seal. "I'll finish delivering all of the bundles in thirty minutes."

The woman laughed as she waved her hand. "No no child. That's..."

"**TAJUU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"**

"Impossible..." The old woman barely managed to breath out. Surrounding the area were about two hundred clones each with the same grin. "Uzumaki style, mass bundle labor delivery technique!"

At once, all of the clones went to pick up the bundles. To the woman's greater shock, each one easily lifted the bundles onto their shoulders as if they weighed nothing. Deciding that it was too much for her aged brain, the woman sat back and promptly fell unconscious.

(Exactly thirty minutes later)

Naruto lightly tapped the shoulder of the woman. Eventually she stirred and woke up to see the bright blue eyes of the boy. "Oh, hello child. That's interesting... I just had a ridiculous dream that a person who looked just like you came and made about a hundred copies of himself. Hahaha, what a strange dream."

"Actually, it was two hundred ma'am."

"..."

The woman looked around her farm as she saw none of the bundles. They were all gone.

"Then, that dream was real?"

Naruto nodded.

"Heavens. How on earth did you do that child? Who did you say you were?"

Naruto beamed as he went into his special practiced pose. "Uzumaki Naruto! Future Hokage of the leaf village!"

The elderly woman nodded as she smiled. "Ah, I remember now. Well, I guess I should pay you for everything. There were two hundred and fifty bundles altogether so... This should be the correct amount."

Naruto took the money as he bowed respectfully. Thank you and have a good day."

The woman smiled as she nodded him away. Bowing one last time, Naruto then suddenly vanished in a plume of smoke, causing the woman to fall back unconscious again.

OooOo

"Yami! Look look! I finished with work!"

Yumi didn't bother to look around her as she continued to stir the soup. "Already? How many bundles did you deliver?"

"All of them!"

"All of them, good job." Yumi continued to stir as if nothing had happened until she realized what he had said. Turning around she saw the gigantic pile of money on her table and almost fainted. "What the heck did you do?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly as he scratched his head. "Well, I wanted to finish as quickly as possible. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Yumi stammered as she looked at all the money. "N-no... But how?"

Naruto was about to go into the his special pose when she suddenly stopped him. "Wait, let me guess. Because you're the future Hokage of Konoha?"

Naruto beamed as he gave her a thumbs up sign. "Correct!"

Yumi shook her head as she went back to making her soup. Yep, having a guy like him was definitely not a bad thing.

OooOo

Shikamaru gathered everyone around as he handed out the wireless communicators. "All of you are to search for Naruto. If you find him alone, bring him back immediately. Neji, Kiba, could you transform into the two ninja you saw earlier?"

Neji and Kiba looked at each other before transforming into Itachi and Kisame respectively.

"Everyone, memorize these faces. If you see them with Naruto, do not engage them. No matter what the circumstance, we can't take risks. This will be our meeting station."

Shikamaru looked at Sakura. He could tell that the girl was conflicted. After all, she boasted the closest relationship to the blond. Looking at her especially, he sighed. "Don't let your emotions get in the way of our mission. These two ninja are in the S Class missing-nin bingo book, so don't think that they're regular ninja. No matter what, if you see them, do not confront them.

Four affirmative "hai's" sounded, and all five ninja flew away in their own direction. Shikamaru made sure that his own receiver was properly placed as he ran around the streets. _Geez Naruto. This is all because you just had to come to this town. So troublesome._

OooOo

Naruto and Yumi walked together down the marketplace. Thanks to Naruto's earnings, the day had become shopping day. However, to the blond it was the most boring experience he had ever lived through.

"Naaah... Yami-kun. When are we finished? I'm so bored."

Yumi continued to place items into the bag that Naruto was carrying before answering briefly. "I'm almost finished. This is great you know. At this rate, the food will last at least a month!"

Naruto looked at the food in the bag before staring at her critically. "This... lasts you a month? No wonder you're so skinny! I eat more than this for breakfast!"

Yumi laughed half-heartedly as she looked around. "Well, that's all the more reason to buy more food. I'm not used to having guests after all."

Naruto was about to answer when he suddenly saw a snack booth nearby. Checking his wallet, he found just enough money for some octopus snacks. Hoping to surprise his new friend, Naruto quietly stalked off towards the stand. However, as he walked away, he didn't notice that there was also a group of men walking towards Yumi.

"Hey Naruto, what do you think about this?" The girl turned around as she held up a giant pear. However, the blond was no where to be seen. Instead, there were a bunch of men in classic Yakuza garb sneering at her. Instinctively she turned to escape, but she had gotten careless. A group of eight men had surrounded her, each one the size of a tank.

_These must be his men... Dammit! Right when I thought I was finally free. But where's Naruto? I hope he got away at least._

(At the local octopus stand)

Naruto was in a predicament. Looking around at all of the different types, he sighed as he examined each one carefully. "Would Yami like a spicy octopus or a sweet octopus? Hm... What a tough decision. I wonder..." Reaching for a sweet one, he suddenly retracted his hand and thought twice. This would take a while.

(Back with Yumi)

"Just come quietly and there won't be any trouble. But if you make a sound..."

The three men in front of her showed their knives.

"I think you get the picture. Now hurry up. The boss is waiting."

The townspeople pitied the girl as she disappeared from their view. It seemed a little much that there were about eight people escorting a single girl, but this was the Yakuza. Even if someone wanted to help her, who in the world would have been stupid enough to even try and confront the powerful gang figures? No, no, it wasn't their place. When dealing with the Yakuza, it was nobody's place.

(A good three hours later)

"YAMI-KUUUUUUN!!!" All the townspeople turned as the saw a grinning blond skip towards them. "Where are you Yami-kun? I bought us some snacks!" It had taken him forever to choose the perfect flavors, but in the end, he finally found the right ones. He simply had bought one spicy and one sweet snack. This way, Yami could choose which one he wanted, since the blond like both anyways. However, as he looked around, he couldn't find his friend anywhere. The fact that something might have happened while he had been gone for about three hours didn't occur to him as he continued to walk through the streets. "HELLOOOOOOO?" Finally, someone looked harshly at him and shushed him. Wondering what that was about, he walked boldly towards the person and looked at them curiously. "I'm sorry, but do you know where my friend Yami is? He's about a foot shorter than me, probably around the same age, kinda looks like a girl, has really girlish features, extremely skinny..."

Everyone in the market sweatdropped as they all thought simultaneously. _That's obviously a girl..._

Finally, one of the older women stepped forward as she called out to him. "Young man! Aren't you that helper from this morning?"

Naruto looked at her before beaming. "Oh! Hi again! I don't know why, but the villagers keep ignoring me. Do you know where my friend Yami went? The one who works for you!"

The old woman frowned as she quickly hushed him. "The Yakuza took her."

Naruto's eyes widened. The fact that she used "her" totally flew past him. At the moment, he was simply worried about his new friend.

"Listen child. If it were anyone else, I would probably just tell them to forget about her and leave. But since it's you... I have a feeling that you'll be able to do it. Now see here." Taking out a town map, she pointed to the largest complex on it. "You'll find this building way up the river, past this town, and into the next. The giant building is their main compound, so if you keep a good pace, you might be able to get there soon. By horse it's about half a day. Expect it to be around two days if you go by foot. But I warn you... These people aren't nice and forgiving. You'll be lucky if your friend is still sane after they're done with her. Just make sure that you go as quickly as possible. In fact, I'll even lend you my horse."

Naruto looked somber for a second before nodding. So it was the Yakuza... During his time at his old Konoha, not this one, he had often explored the underground world to further his understanding of the crime lords and drug dealers. After all, it was essential for the Hokage to understand every aspect of his village and the towns surrounding the village. Thinking over a quick plan, Naruto clenched his fists as he looked at the old woman seriously. "Thank you very much, but I won't be needing a horse."

"Whatever do you mean? Don't you want to catch up to her?"

Naruto smiled as he shook his head silently. "Trust me. I'm the future Hokage of the leaf remember? Thank you for your help. I will definitely repay you one day."

Naruto suddenly dashed off as he flew towards the outer gates of the city. Not even bothering to wait for the gate to open, the blond scaled the village walls and cleared them while maintaining his running speed. The townspeople watched in awe as they all murmured to each other. Being a small village, they had never seen anything like it before. The old woman clenched her fists as she closed her eyes. _Good luck... future Hokage._

OooOo

Shikamaru looked around as he tried to find traces of the blond. He immediately headed towards the ramen stand in the beginning, but found that he had left prematurely with the two missing-nins. Shikamaru groaned as he scratched his head. If the guy actually got kidnapped... Deciding to check the town over one more time, he towards the market place to try and ask questions.

OooOo

Sakura asked around as her worry continued to grow. Not only was the blond missing, but for some reason, she also felt her woman's intuition spike. This usually meant that he was either in really deep trouble, or was actually with another girl. Secretly she hoped it was the former, but she still worried a lot about him either way. She just couldn't imagine life without the happy blond. It was after all these years that she had finally realized her true feelings. But now... It seemed as if they were going to be for naught. Swearing on her pride as a woman, she decided that if they found him, the first thing she would tell him would be her true feelings.

_Just... be safe Naruto. We still need our Rokudaime._

OooOo

Naruto ran, faster than he had ever run before, through the sandy dunes as he kept his line of sight on the moving river. Crimson blood seeped from Naruto's hands as he clenched his fists. For some reason, he felt as though he had let down Yumi. He had no idea where that thought had come from, but either way, he knew that he would do anything in his power, (and the fox's), to save Yami. How could he be so careless! Swearing that he would save his new friend, he unconsciously transformed into his demon form and tripled his speed. After all, he was a good four hours behind. Deciding that he was still too slow, he barked at the fox. Their voices were identical now.

"_**Kyuubi! Give me more chakra!"  
**_

_**Hey hey. I don't think that's such a good-**_

"_**KYUUBI! GIVE ME MORE CHAKRA NOW!"**_

Whimpering, the great fox yielded as it sent a steady stream of chakra to the boy. Naruto felt his speed increase further as he created a whirlwind of sand behind him. Even from far away, the tornado itself seemed to emit murderous intent.

After all, someone was going to pay.

TBC...

A/N: Gosh... I'm just throwing out chapters now aren't I? This one was really long too... I'm thinking, REVIEWS! Well, next chapter will be super action packed. I have a general idea on what's going to happen, but... well, we'll see. To all you Hero fans, I'm sorry for not updating. I'll try to work harder. Next update is Rurouni Naruto (Rurouni Naruto fans rejoice), and I think it'll be either Kaze no Kami Sama or Hero after that. My inspiration for Insatiable Instability is lacking at the moment. Oh, and one reviewer told me that my power level scale was off. I think the person said that "One tail is equal to a Kage". If I have any defense on that, I can only say that it's Kishimoto's fault. That guy... has some strength issues. First of all, do you think that the canon Naruto and Sasuke in their one tailed demon form/curse seal level two form are stronger than Kage's? I barely think that they were stronger than Kakashi. Furthermore, Naruto still couldn't beat Orochimaru with four tails in the manga, though he was pwning him. And we all know that Orochimaru's barely above the level of a Kage. He only beat the third Hokage because the old man was...old. So that's my defense. If 3-3.5 tails is about Kage level strength, then that's that. Also, Jiraiya's weaker than Orochimaru (in my opinion), so let's just say that my numbers are right. After all, it is fanfiction. Even if it's a little off, well, yeah.

So POWER LEVELS!

Naruto with weights: 9.3

Naruto without weights and gravity seals: 11.2

Naruto Kazamarasengan: 14

Itachi: 9.8

Itachi with Amaterasu and Mangenkyo Sharingan: 14

Kisame: 9.4

Kyuubi: 18

Kyuubi six tails: 16

Unleashed Kyuubi?

Sakura: 5.5

Neji: 5.9

Lee: 5.8

Shikamaru: 3.2

Kiba: 5.0

Yumi: 1.0

And I think that's everyone. Thank you so much for reviewing! Those who have been reviewing up to now have my sincerest thanks. Oh, and I've taken a habit to replying your reviews. So if you have questions, feel free to ask. I'll answer them right away.


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